Creation 


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Creation 


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CREATION 


LIST    OP    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PLATE 

I.— Primitive  Nebula,    .        .        .         Frontispiece. 
II. — Circular    Nebula  —  Spiral    Nebula, 

To  face  p.     65 

TTT. — The  Photosphere    op    the  Earth  Disap- 
pearing, 
IV. — Silurian  Age,  . 
V. — Devonian  Age, 
VI. — Carboniferous  Age, 
VII.— Mesozoic  Age, 
VIII.— Tertiary  Age  (Dinotherium), 
IX.— Tertiary  Age  (Mammoth), 


.     To  face 

P- 

72 

a 

95 

<< 

103 

a 

110 

(( 

114 

«« 

118 

<< 

121 

The  geological  illustrations  are  engraved  from  photographs 
of  original  paintings,  belonging  to  t7te  series  executed  by  B.  W. 
Hawkins,  Sc.D.,  for  the  E.  M.  Museum  of  Geotogy  and 
Archmlogy  of  the  College  of  2?ew  Jersey,  Princeton. 


CREATION 


THE    BIBLICAL    COSMOGONY   IN    THE 
LIGHT  OF  MODERN  SCIENCE 


ARNOLD   GUYOT,  LL.D. 

BLAIR  PROFESSOR  OF  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY  IN  THE 

COLLEGE  OF  NEW  JERSEY.      AUTHOR  OF   "  EARTH  AND 

MAN."     MEMBER  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ACADEMY 

OF  SCIENCES  OF  AMERICA.      ASSOCIATE 

MEMBER     OF    THE     ROYAL 

ACADEMY  OF  TURIN, 

ETC.,    ETC. 


NEW  YORK 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

1884 


Copyright,  1884,  by 
CHAKLES  SCBIBNER'S  SONS 


TROWS 

PRINTING  AND   BOOKBINDING  COMPANy 

NEW  YORK. 


TO  MY  BELOVED  WIFE, 

WHOSE  EVER  READY  HEART  AND 

HAND,  THROUGH  GENTLE  MINISTRY  DURING 

LONG  WEEKS  OP  ILLNESS,  ALONE  HAVE  RENDERED 

POSSIBLE  THE   ISSUE  OP  THIS  LITTLE  BOOK,  THESE  LEAVES 

ARE    OFFERED    AS  A  TRIBUTE   OF    THE    PROFOUND 

AFFECTION  OF  HER  ATTACHED  HUSBAND 

THE  AUTHOR 


PREFACE 


In  the  beginning  of  the  winter  of  1840, 
having  just  finished  writing  a  lecture  on 
the  Creation  which  was  to  be  a  part  of  a 
public  course  of  Physical  Geography  that 
I  was  then  delivering  at  Neuchatel,  Swit- 
zerland, it  flashed  upon  my  mind  that  the 
outlines  I  had  been  tracing,  guided  by  the 
results  of  scientific  inquiry,  then  available, 
were  precisely  those  of  the  grand  history 
given  in  the  First  Chapter  of  Genesis.  In 
the  same  hour  I  explained  this  remarkable 
coincidence  to  the  intelligent  audience 
which  it  was  my  privilege  to  address. 
Before  that  time,  though  acquainted  with 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

the  principal  attempts  to  put  that  most 
ancient  writing  in  accordance  with  the 
geology  of  the  clay,  I  had  found  them  en- 
tirely inadequate,  and  had  suspended  my 
judgment  on  the  question — waiting  for 
more  light. 

A  further  study  of  this  interesting  sub- 
ject allowed  me  to  perfect  many  a  detail, 
and,  though  the  general  outlines  remained 
the  same,  to  perceive  more  and  more  the 
deep  philosophical  meaning  of  the  plan 
and  the  connection  of  all  the  parts  of  that 
wonderful  Eecord. 

Since  that  time  I  have  been  requested 
again  and  again  to  express  these  views, 
both  in  private  and  in  public,  but  they 
first  appeared  in  print  in  the  Evening 
Post,  March,  1852,  as  a  series  of  abstracts 
from  a  public  course  of  lectures  which  I 
was  delivering  in  New  York 


PREFACE.  IX 

The  substance  of  these  articles  fur- 
nished the  foundation  of  an  extensive 
critical  review  of  the  same  ideas,  by  Rev. 
Dr.  O.  Means,  in  the  BibliotJieca- Sacra  of 
March  and  April,  1855,  in  connection  with 
other  proposed  explanations  of  the  bibli- 
cal account  of  creation. 

Later  still  I  was  called  upon  to  lecture 
on  this  subject  in  the  College  of  New 
Jersey ;  and  several  years  in  succession  in 
the  Theological  Seminary  of  Princeton. 
At  the  request  of  the  Trustees  of  the 
Union  Theological  Seminary  of  New  York, 
I  exj)ounded  the  same  views  in  a  course  of 
twelve  lectures,  in  the  year  1866,  on  the 
Morse  Foundation,  then  just  established. 

Prof.  J.  D.  Dana  did  me  the  honor  to 
endorse  them,  almost  in  full,  in  his  remark- 
able article,  on  "  Science  and  the  Bible,"  in 
the  January  number  of   the  BibliotJieca- 


X  PREFACE. 

Sacra,  in  IS 56.  He  also  adopted  them  in 
his  manual  of  Geology,  which  first  ap- 
peared in  1863. 

A  complete  though  much  condensed  ex- 
position was  given,  by  invitation,  before 
the  Evangelical  Alliance  assembled  in  New 
York,  in  1873,  which  is  found  printed  in 
the  volume  of  its  Proceedings,  New  York, 
1874. 

These  dates  may  serve  to  show  that 
whatever  be  the  value  of  this  interpreta- 
tion, in  making  clear  the  true  meaning  and 
import  of  the  First  Chapter  of  Genesis, 
it  has  been  worked  out  independently  of 
later  publications  giving  the  same  or  simi- 
lar opinions. 

Having  been  repeatedly  asked  by  intelli- 
gent laymen,  as  well  as  clergymen,  where 
an  exposition  of  my  views  could  be  found, 
it  became  evident  to  me  that,  owing  to  the 


PREFACE.  XI 

limited  circulation  of  the  Evangelical  Al- 
liance volume,  the  paper  did  not  attain  the 
full  measure  of  its  usefulness.  This  con- 
viction induced  me  to  yield  to  the  request 
to  publish  it  in  a  more  accessible  and  con- 
venient form,  with  such  additions  and  il- 
lustrations as  might  elucidate  the  subject 
more  fully. 

The  results  of  the  so-called  modern, 
higher  criticism,  whose  object  is  to  shake 
the  faith  in  the  authenticity  of  the  Book 
of  Genesis,  have  not  even  been  alluded  to. 
These  conclusions  have  often  been  fully 
refuted  by  more  competent  men  than  their 
authors. 

It  seemed  best  to  retain  the  synoptical 
character  of  the  article.  Experience  has 
taught  me  that  extended  critical  discus- 
sions on  all  the  possible  interpretations  of 
the  text,  or  on  the  philological  meaning  of 


xil  PREFACE. 

certain  words,  are  likely  to  engender  con- 
fusion and  perplexity,  rather  than  to  estab- 
lish a  definite  and  well-grounded  conviction 
on  the  subject. 

I  have  faith  in  the  power  of  a  simple 
and  clear  presentation  of  the  truth.  Such 
an  one  has  been  attempted  here.  May  my 
brother  scientist,  as  well  as  the  believer  in 
the  Bible,  find  in  the  following  pages  new 
reasons  for  accepting  the  truths  contained 
in  this  sacred  document  as  the  revelation 
of  a  God  of  love  to  man. 

A.  Guyot. 

Princeton,  New  Jersey,  December,  1883. 


CONTENTS. 


i. 

PAGE 

Introduction, 1 

II. 
Plan  of  the  Biblical  Account  of  Creation,         .       9 

III. 

What  the  Record  Teaches, 20 

IV. 

What  Help  can  Modern  Science  give  us  in  un- 
derstanding aright  the  Statements  of  the 
Blble,  and  how  do  the  two  Records  com- 
pare?          24 

V. 
The  Prologue, 29 

VI. 

The  Primitive  State  of  Matter  when  First  cre- 
ated, ........     33 

vn. 

The  First  Cosmogonic  Day, 43 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

VIII. 

PAGE 

Second  Cosmogonic  Day, 54 

IX. 
Thhjd  Cosmogonic  Day, 72 

X. 
Third  Cosmogonic  Day  continued,  .        .        .        .83 

XI. 
Fourth  Cosmogonic  Day, 92 

XII. 
Fifth  Cosmogonic  Day, 95 

XIII. 
Sixth  Cosmogonic  Day, 120 

XIV. 

Sixth  Cosmogonic  Day  continued,  .        .        .        .122 

XV. 
The  Seventh  Day.    The  Sabbath  of  Cbeation,   .  131 

XVI. 
Conclusions, 137 


CREATION; 

OR, 

THE  BIBLICAL  COSMOGONY  IN  THE  LIGHT 
OF  MODERN  SCIENCE. 


} 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  Biblical  Narrative  and  the  Ancient  Cosmogonies 
contrasted— The  two  Records  :  Bible  and  Nature — 
The  true  Method  of  the  Interpretation  of  Both— Our 
Point  of  View. 

The  sacred  volume,  containing  the  revela- 
tions that  God,  in  his  wisdom,  chose  to 
give  to  man,  fitly  opens  with  a  short  ac- 
count of  the  creation  of  the  material 
world,  animated  nature,  and  of  man  him- 
self.    On  this  great  question  of  Creation, 


2  CREATION. 

which  implies  the  relation  of  God  to  his 
creatures,  of  the  finite  to  the  infinite — a 
question  insoluble  for  human  philosophy 
— man  had  to  be  taught  from  on  hisdi. 

In  all  ages  of  history  men  have  ac- 
knowledged the  necessity  of  such  a  reve- 
lation. In  the  organized,  primitive,  as 
well  as  in  the  later  communities,  we  al- 
ways find  as  a  part  of  the  religious  code  of 
laws  on  which  the  social  order  is  founded, 
a  similar  history  of  the  creation  of  the 
universe — a  cosmogony — for  which  their 
authors  claim  a  divine  origin. 

The  Bible  narrative,  however,  by  its 
simplicity,  its  chaste,  positive,  historical 
character,  is  in  perfect  contrast  with  the 
fanciful,  allegorical,  intricate  cosmogonies 
of  all  heathen  religions,  whether  born  in 
the  highly  civilized  communities  of  Egypt, 
the  Orient,  Greece,  or  Home,  or  among  the 
savage  tribes  which  still  occupy  a  large 
portion  of  our  planet.  By  its  sublime 
grandeur,  by  its  symmetrical  plan,  by  the 


INTRODUCTION. 


profoundly  philosophical  disposition  of  its 
parts,  and,  perhaps,  quite  as  much  by  its 
wonderful  caution  in  the  statement  of 
facts,  which  leaves  room  for  all  scientific 
discoveries,  it  betrays  the  supreme  guid- 
ance which  directed  the  pen  of  the  writer 
and  kept  it  throughout  within  the  limits 
of  truth. 

In  all  these  respects  this  most  ancient  of 
written  documents  deserves  special  atten- 
tion on  the  part  of  all  enlightened  minds, 
while  the  sacredness  of  its  character 
doubles  for  us  the  duty  of  studying  it  in 
a  reverent,  but  candid,  impartial,  and  truth- 
loving  spirit. 

Side  by  side,  another  manifestation  of 
the  same  divine  mind,  the  book  of  Nature, 
itself  the  work  of  God,  is  open  to  our 
curious  gaze.  To  man  alone,  among  all 
created  beings,  has  been  granted  the  privi- 
lege of  reading  in  it,  by  patient  and  intel- 
ligent researches,  the  innumerable  proofs 
of  the  almighty  power  and  wisdom  of  its 


4  CREATION. 

author ;  for  man's  mind  alone,  in  the  world 
known  to  us,  is  akin  to  the  mind  which  de- 
vised the  wonderful  plan  unfolded  in  that 
great  Cosmos  which  we  call  Nature. 

Both  these  books,  the  Bible  and  Na- 
ture, are  legitimate  sources  of  knowledge ; 
but  to  read  them  aright  we  must  remember 
the  object  and  true  character  of  their  re- 
spective teachings,  which  are  by  no  means 
the  same. 

The  chief  design  of  the  Bible,  throughout 
the  sacred  volume,  is  to  give  us  light  upon 
the  great  truths  needed  for  our  spiritual 
life  ;  all  the  rest  serves  only  as  a  means  to 
that  end,  and  is  merely  incidental. 

In  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  when 
describing  in  simple  outlines  the  great 
phases  of  existence  through  which  the 
universe  and  the  earth  have  passed,  the  Bi- 
ble does  not  intend  to  reveal  to  us  the  pro- 
cesses by  which  they  have  been  brought 
about,  and  which  it  is  the  province  of  as- 
tronomy,   chemistry,  and   geology  to   dis- 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

cover;  but,  by  a  few  authoritative  state- 
ment s,  to  put  in  a  strong  light  the  rela- 
tions of  this  finite,  visible  world  to  the 
spiritual,  invisible  world  above,  to  God 
himself.  Its  teachings  are  essentially  of 
a  spiritual,  religious  character. 

Destined  for  men  of  all  times  and  of  all 
degrees  of  culture,  its  instructions  are 
clothed  in  simple,  popular  language,  which 
renders  them  accessible  alike  to  the  un- 
learned, to  the  cultivated  man,  and  to  the 
devotee  of  science. 

The  knowledge  we  derive  from  Nature 
reaches  us  only  by  our  senses.  A  faithful 
study  of  God's  visible  works,  and  sound 
deductions  from  the  facts  carefully  ascer- 
tained are  the  foundations  on  which  the 
science  of  nature  rests.  But  from  these 
finite  premises  no  logical  process  can  de- 
rive the  great  truths  of  the  infinite,  super- 
natural world  which  are  given  in  the 
Biblical  narrative.  Nature's  teachings, 
grand    as    they    are,  belong   to   the   finite 


6  CREATION. 

world,  they  are  of  a  material  and  intel- 
lectual order,  and  cannot  transcend  their 
sphere.  If  the  immensity  of  the  boundless 
universe,  in  the  midst  of  which  we  live, 
awakens  in  us  the  idea  of  the  infinite,  it 
cannot  prove  it,  nor,  governed  as  it  is,  by 
the  necessary  operation  of  invariable  laws, 
can  this  visible  world  throw  any  light  upon 
the  mysteries  of  that  invisible  domain  in 
which  love  and  freedom  reign  supreme. 

Let  us  not,  therefore,  hope,  much  less 
ask,  from  science  the  knowledge  which  it 
can  never  give ;  nor  seek  from  the  Bible  the 
science  which  it  does  not  intend  to  teach. 
Let  us  receive  from  the  Bible,  on  trust,  the 
fundamental  truths  to  which  human  science 
cannot  attain,  and  let  the  results  of  scientific 
inquiry  serve  as  a  running  commentary  to 
help  us  rightly  to  understand  the  compre- 
hensive statements  of  the  Biblical  account 
which  refer  to  God's  work  durino;  the 
grand  week  of  creation.  Thus  we  shall  be 
convinced,  if  I  do  not.  greatly  err,  that  the 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

two  books,  coming  from  the  same  Author, 
do  not  oppose,  but  complete  one  another, 
forming  together  the  whole  revelation  of 
God  to  man. 

In   reading   the   Biblical    narrative,   to 
cling  to  an  interpretation  obviously  dis- 
proved by  the  testimony  of  God's  works, 
as  many  well-meaning,  but  unwise  believ- 
ers have  done,  is  to  refuse  the  light  placed 
before  us  by  God  himself.     On  the  other 
side,  to  decline,  as  many  still  do,  a  priori, 
to  believe  in  the  possibility  of  this  antique 
document  agreeing  in  its  statements  with 
modern  science,  because  its  author  could  not 
have  had,  it  is  supposed,  such  knowledge, 
before  the  discoveries  of  our  day,  is  to  be 
governed  by  a  preconceived  opinion.     This 
question  should  be  submitted  to  an  impartial 
examination,  as  a  question  of  fact.     To  do 
otherwise  is  as  unscientific  as  it  is  unjust. 

If  we  do  neither,  but,  without  prejudice, 
faithfully  use  all  the  means  of  interpreta- 
tion at  our  disposal,  we  may  hope   to  see 


8  CREATION. 

this  question  of  fact  decided  in  the  affirm- 
ative, and  the  clouds  which  have  ob- 
scured the  majestic  simplicity  of  that  no- 
ble record  dispelled  forever. 

In  offering  a  simple  and  clear  exposi- 
tion of  his  own  matured  views,  the  writer 
is  not  without  strong  hope  that  the  rea- 
sons which  have  determined  his  conviction 
may  equally  satisfy  the  minds  of  his  fel- 
low-seekers after  truth,  whether  in  the 
domain  of  Nature,  or  in  that  of  Holy  Writ. 

Taking  this  view  of  the  Biblical  account 
of  creation,  and  of  the  method  of  its  inter- 
pretation, let  us  consider : 

The  plan  of  the  narrative. 

What  it  teaches. 

What  help  modern  science,  by  its  best 
results,  can  give  us  in  understanding  aright 
the  concise  statements  of  the  Bible  which 
relate  to  the  method  of  creation. 

This  last  investigation  will  tell  us 
whether  or  no,  and  in  what  measure,  the 
two  records  differ  or  agree. 


II. 

PLAN  OF  THE  BIBLICAL  ACCOUNT  OF  CREATION. 

The  document  before  us  for  examination 
begins  with  the  first  chapter  of  the  Book 
of  Genesis  and  ends  with  the  third  verse 
of  the  second  chapter.  It  is  complete  in 
itself,  forming  an  organic  whole  which  un- 
folds the  history  of  the  creation  of  the 
material  universe  and  of  living  beings,  in- 
cluding man  as  a  part  of  nature. 

By  the  symmetrical  regularity  of  its  ar- 
rangement, by  the  tone  of  its  language, 
and  the  specific  use  of  certain  words,  it  is 
stamped  with  an  individuality  not  to  be 
mistaken.  In  this  the  name  of  God  is  in 
the  plural  form,  Elohim,  the  triune  God 
of  the  universe,  the  Father,  the  Word,  and 
the  Spirit,  who  all  appear  in  the  work  of 
creation. 


10  CREATION. 

In  the  second  narrative,  beginning  with 
the  fourth  verse  of  the  second  chapter, 
which  takes  up,  under  another  aspect,  the 
creation  of  man  as  the  head  of  the  family 
of  humanity,  and  specifically  of  the  Jew- 
ish people,  chosen  by  God  as  its  spiritual 
representative,  guardian  of  the  true  knowl- 
edge of  God  and  of  His  oracles  concerning 
the  promised  Kedeemer,  God's  name  is 
Jehovah. 

That  difference  in  the  name  of  the  Crea- 
tor in  the  two  documents,  the  Elohistic  and 
the  Jehovistic,  as  they  have  been  termed, 
has  caused  many  to  believe  that  both  were 
not  due  to  the  pen  of  the  same  author,  or 
that  Moses  had  before  him  two  ancient 
documents  which  he  simply  admitted  in 
his  Book  of  Genesis.  This  may,  or  may 
not  be  so.  It  is  not  the  place  to  discuss 
this  question,  since  we  only  propose  to  ex- 
amine the  first  narrative  in  itself,  without 
regard  to  the  sources  of  information  at  the 
disposal  of  its  author.     We  may  say,  how- 


BIBLICAL    ACCOUNT    OF    CREATION.         11 

ever,  that  the  obvious  difference  in  the  aim 
of  each  narrative  seems  sufficient  to  justify 
the  difference  in  the  expressions  used  in 
describing  the  creation  of  man  and  woman 
and  in  the  name  of  the  Creator,  without 
recurring  to  a  double  authorship  which  is 
in  itself  improbable. 

The  Biblical  account  of  creation  is  not 
an  ordinary  narrative.  The  majesty  of 
its  simple  and  almost  rhythmic  language 
gives  it  the  charm  of  a  grand  poem,  with  a 
prologue,  a  developing  drama,  and  a  tri- 
umphant conclusion.  Moreover,  a  closer 
analysis  reveals  a  plan  jDrofoundly  philo- 
sophical, which  has  been  too  much  over- 
looked by  its  expositors,  but  will  be  noted 
here,  though  its  full  signification  will  be 
shown  hereafter. 

The  history  of  Creation  is  given  in  the 
form  of  a  grand  cosmogonic  week,  with  six 
creative  or  working  days,  preceded  by  an 
introduction,  and  closing  with  a  day  of 
rest — the    Sabbath  of  God  as  a  Creator. 


12  CREATION. 

Each  day  is  marked  by  a  special  work,  and 
begins  with  an  evening  followed  by  a 
morning.  These  six  days  are  subdivided 
into  two  symmetrical  series  of  three  days 
each.  Both  series  besrin  with  Li^ht — the 
diffused,  cosmic  light  in  the  first,  the  con- 
centrated solar  light  in  the  second.  In 
both  series  the  third  day  has  two  works, 
while  the  others  contain  but  one.  The 
first  series  describes  the  arrangement  of 
the  material  world — it  is  the  Era  of  mat- 
ter *  the  second,  the  creation  of  organized 
beings,  animals  and  man — it  is  the  Era  of 
life  :  two  trilogies  in  this  great  drama  of 
creation,  corresponding  to  the  two  great 
spheres  of  existence  which  precede  the 
historical  age  of  man.  Such  symmetry  of 
plan  cannot  be  accidental :  it  is  full  of 
meaning,  as  we  soon  shall  see. 

The  following  tableau  will  put  in  a  clear 
light  the  symmetrical  arrangement  of  the 
parts  and  the  special  work  of  each  cos- 
mogonic  day. 


BIBLICAL    ACCOUNT    OF    CREATION.         13 

The  translation  of  the  text,  here  given, 
which  adheres  closely  to  the  original,  was 
made  at  my  request  by  Prof.  Henry  C. 
Cameron,  to  whom  I  offer  my  sincere  ac- 
knowledgment. 

THE  PROLOGUE. 

a.  The  Primordial  Creation. 

In  the  beginning  God  created  the  Heavens  and  the 
Earth. 

b.  The  Primitive  State  of  Matter. 

And  the  Earth  was  desolateness  and  emptiness, 
And  darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep, 
And  the  Spirit  of  God  brooded  upon  the  face  of 
the  waters. 

ERA   OF  MATTER. 

FIRST   COSMOGONIC  DAT. 

Work. — First  Activity  of  Hatter — Cosmic  Light. 

And  God  said,  "  Let  Light  be,"  and  Light  was. 

And  God  saw  the  Light  that  it  was  good. 

And  God  separated  the  Light  from  the  darkness. 


14  CREATION. 

And  God  called  the  Light  Day,  and  the  darkness 

he  called  Night. 
And  evening  was,  and  morning  was,  day  one. 

SECOND   COSMOGONIO   DAY. 

Work. — Organization  of  the  Heavens. 

And  God  said,  "Let  there  be  an  Expanse   in  the 

midst  of  the  waters, 
And  let  it  separate  the  waters  from  the  waters." 
And  God  made  the  Expanse, 
And  separated  the  waters  under  the  Expanse  from 

the  waters  above  the  Expanse. 
And  it  was  so. 

And  God  called  the  Expanse  Heavens. 
And  evening  was,  and  morning  was,  day  second. 

THIRD   COSMOGONIC   DAY. 

First  "Work. — a.  Formation  of  the  Earth. 

And  God  said,  "Let  the  waters  under  the  Heavens 
be  gathered  to  one  place, 

And  let  the  dry  land  appear." 

And  it  was  so. 

And  God  called  the  dry  land  Earth,  and  the  gather- 
ing of  the  waters  called  he  Seas. 

And  God  saw  that  it  was  good. 


BIBLICAL    ACCOUNT    OF    CREATION.         15 

Second  Work. — b.  The  Plants. 

And  God  said,  "  Let  the  earth  bring  forth  vegeta- 
tion, herb  bearing  seed,  fruit  tree  yielding  fruit 
after  its  kind  whose  seed  is  in  it,  upon  the 
earth." 

And  it  was  so. 

And  the  Earth  brought  forth  vegetation,  herb  bear- 
ing seed  after  its  kind,  and  tree  yielding  fruit 
whose  seed  is  in  it  after  its  kind. 

And  God  saw  that  it  was  good. 

And  evening  was,  and  morning  was,  day  third. 

EKA   OF  LIFE. 
FOURTH  COSMOGONIC  DAY. 

The  Work.—  The  Solar  Light. 
And  God  said,  "  Let  luminaries  be  in  the  Expanse  of 

the  Heavens  to  separate  the  day  from  the  night ; 
And  let  them  be  for  signs,  and  for  seasons,  and  for 

days  and  for  years. 
And  let  them  be  for  luminaries  in  the  Expanse  of 

the  Heavens  to  give  light  upon  the  Earth." 
And  it  was  so. 

And  God  made  the  two  great  luminaries, 
The  great  luminary  for  the  dominion  of  the  day, 
The  small  luminary  for  the  dominion  of  the  night ; 
The  stars  also. 


16  CKEATION. 

And  God  placed  them  in  the  Expanse  of  the  Heavens 

To  give  light  upon  the  Earth, 

And  to  rule  over  the  day  and  over  the  night 

And  to  separate  the  light  from  the  darkness. 

And  God  saw  that  it  was  good. 

And  evening  was,  and  morning  was,  day  fourth. 


FIFTH  COSMOGONIC  DAY. 

The  Work. — Creation  of  the  Lower  Animals,  in 
Water  and  Air. 

And  God  said,  "  Let  the  waters  teem  with  creeping 
creatures  (swarm  with  swarmers),  living  beings, 

And  let  birds  fly  over  the  earth,  across  the  face  of 
the  expanse  of  the  heavens." 

And  God  created  the  great  stretched-out  sea  mon- 
sters (tanninim), 

And  all  living  creatures  that  creep,  which  the  waters 
breed  abundantly  after  their  kind, 

And  every  winged  bird  after  its  kind. 

And  God  saw  that  it  was  good. 

And  God  blessed  them,  saying, 

"  Be  fruitful  and  multiply, 

And  fill  the  waters  in  the  seas, 

And  let  the  birds  multiply  on  the  earth." 

And  evening  was,  and  morning  was,  day  fifth. 


BIBLICAL    ACCOUNT    OF    CREATION.         17 

SIXTH  COSMOGONIC  DAY. 

The  First  Work. — a.   Creation   of  Higher  Animals 
on  Land. 

And  God  said,  "  Let  the  Earth  bring  forth  the  living 

creature   after   its    kind,    cattle   and   creeping 

things, 
And  beasts  of  the  earth  after  their  kind." 
And  it  was  so. 
And  God  made  the  beasts  of  the  earth  after  their 

kind, 
And  the  cattle  after  their  kind, 
And  every  creeping  thing  of  the  ground  after  its 

kind. 
And  God  saw  that  it  was  good. 

The  Second  Work. — b.   Creation  of  3 fan. 

And  God  said,   "Let  us  make  man  in  our  image, 

after  our  likeness, 
And  let  them  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the 

sea, 

And  over  the  birds  of  the  heavens, 

And  over  the  cattle, 

And  over  all  the  Earth, 

And  over  every  creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon 

the  Earth." 
2 


18  CREATION. 


And  God  created  man  in  his  image, 


In  the  image  of  God  created  he  him  ; 

Male  and  female  created  he  them. 

And  God  blessed  them. 

And  God  said  to  them, 

"  Be  fruitful  and  multiply 

And  fill  the  earth  and  subdue  it, 

And  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea 

And  over  the  birds  of  the  heavens, 

And  over  every  living  creature  that  creepeth  upon 
the  earth." 

And  God  said,  "  Behold,  I  have  given  to  you  every 
herb  bearing  seed,  which  is  upon  the  face  of  all 
the  earth, 

And  every  tree  in  which  is  the  fruit  of  the  tree  yield- 
ing seed ; 

To  you  they  shall  be  for  food. 

And  to  every  living  creature  of  the  earth, 

And  to  every  bird  of  the  heavens, 

And  to  every  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth  in 
which  there  is  life, 

I  have  given  eveiy  green  herb  for  food." 

And  it  was  so. 

And  God  saw  all  that  he  had  made,  and  behold  it 
was  very  good. 

And  evening  was,  and  morning  was,  day  the  sixth. 


BIBLICAL    ACCOUNT    OF    CREATION.         19 

SEVENTH  COSMOGONIC  BAY. 

No  Wokk. — Conclusion— The  Sabbath. 

Thus  the  Heavens  and  the  Earth  were  finished, 

And  all  the  host  of  them. 

And  on  the  seventh  day  God  ended  his  work  which 

he  had  made  ; 
And  he  rested  on  the  seventh  day  from  all  his  work 

which  he  had  made. 
And  God  blessed  the  seventh  day  and  hallowed  it, 
For  in  it  he  rested  from  all  his  work  which  God  had 

created  and  made. 

Such  is  the  regular  plan  of  that  opening 
chapter  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Before 
Ave  enter,  however,  into  the  consideration 
of  its  details,  which  to  be  well  understood 
may  require  some  explanation,  let  us  see 
what  are  the  great  spiritual  teachings 
which  are  obvious  to  all. 


III. 

WHAT  THE  RECORD   TEACHES. 

The  great  spiritual  truths  emphatically 
taught  by  the  narrative  are :  a  personal 
God,  calling  into  existence  by  his  free, 
almighty  will,  manifested  by  his  word, 
executed  by  his  spirit,  things  which  had  no 
being  ;  a  Creator  distinct  from  his  creation ; 
a  universe,  not  eternal,  but  which  had  a  be- 
ginning in  time ;  a  creation  successive — 
the  six  days ;  and  progressive — beginning 
with  the  lowest  element,  matter,  continu- 
ing by  the  plant  and  animal  life,  terminat- 
ing with  man,  made  in  God's  image ;  thus 
marking  the  great  steps  through  which 
God,  in  the  course  of  ages,  gradually  real- 
ized the  vast  organic  plan  of  the  Cosmos  we 
now  behold  in  its  completeness  and  unity, 
and  which  he  declared  to  be  very  good. 


WHAT   THE    RECORD    TEACHES.  21 

These  are  the  fundamental  spiritual 
truths  which  have  enlightened  men  of  all 
aofes  on  the  true  relations  of  God  to  his 
creation  and  to  man.  To  understand  them 
fully,  to  be  comforted  by  them,  requires 
no  astronomy  nor  geology.  To  depart 
from  them  is  to  relapse  into  the  cold,  unin- 
telligent fatalism  of  the  old  pantheistic  re- 
ligions and  modern  philosophies,  or  to  fall 
from  the  upper  regions  of  light  and  love 
infinite  into  the  dark  abysses  of  an  unavoid- 
able skepticism. 

Accepted  by  man,  these  simple  truths 
already  form  a  code  of  religious  doctrines 
which  free  him  forever  from  the  dread  of 
the  blind,  irresistible  forces  of  nature, 
whose  worship  is  the  foundation  of  all  the 
polytheistic  religions  of  antiquity ;  for  he 
knows  Nature  to  be  not  a  huge,  all-power- 
ful, unconscious,  unfeeling  despot,  but  a 
creature  of  God,  governed  by  His  laws  and 
subject  to  His  supreme  will. 

Adding  to  these  teachings  those  in   the 


22  CREATION. 

second  chapter,  the  great  fact  of  the  fall 
of  man  and  the  promise  of  a  Redeemer,  we 
have  the  Primitive  Gospel  the  Prot-evan- 
gelium  of  the  antediluvian  Patriarchs,  the 
preservation  of  which  was  the  object  of 
the  election  of  Noah  as  the  head  of  the 
new  spiritual  humanity,  after  the  destruc- 
tion, by  the  Deluge,  of  the  unfaithful,  and 
of  the  call  of  Abraham,  another  believer 
in  that  Primitive  Gospel,  whose  descend- 
ants were  to  keep  that  blessed  knowledge 
until  the  coming  of  Christ. 


But  thinking  men,  as  well  as  men  of  sci- 
ence, crave  still  another  view  of  this  narra- 
tive ;  an  intellectual  view  we  may  call  it. 
They  wish  fully  to  understand  the  meaning 
of  the  text  when  it  describes  the  physical 
phenomena  of  creation. 

Are  the  statements  relating  to  them  a 
sort   of   parable   to   convey   the   spiritual 


WHAT   THE    RECORD    TEACHES.  23 

truths  just  mentioned,  or  are  they  facts 
which  correspond  to  those  furnished  by 
the  results  of  scientific  inquiry  ? 

The  answer  to  this  question  brings  us 
to  our  third  point,  the  treatment  of  which 
will  occupy  the  remainder  of  these  pages. 


IV. 


WHAT  HELP  CAN  MODERN  SCIENCE  GIVE  US  IN 
UNDERSTANDING  ARIGHT  THE  STATEMENTS 
OF  THE  BIBLE,  AND  HOW  DO  THE  TWO  REC- 
ORDS  COMPARE? 

At  first  sight,  the  difficulties  are  not  few. 
The  holy  record  speaks  of  the  light  before 
the  sun  ;  of  days  with  an  evening  and 
morning,  before  our  great  luminary  could 
give  a  measure  of  time  for  them;  of  a 
firmament  which  separates  the  waters  from 
the  waters  ;  of  the  earth  with  its  continents 
and  seas,  preceding  the  sun  and  moon ;  of 
plants  growing  without  the  sunlight  neces- 
sary to  their  existence.  These  are  prob- 
lems which  require  a  solution. 

Many,  attempting  to  make  the  great  pe- 
riods of  geology  to  correspond  to  the  six 
creative   days,   failing  to  see  that   Moses 


MODERN    SCIENCE    AND    THE    BIBLE.       25 

confines  the  whole  of  palseontological  geol- 
ogy, from  the  beginning  of  life  in  the  Cam- 
brian and  Silurian,  up  to  the  Tertiary  and 
Quaternary  ages  within  the  fifth  and  the 
sixth  Cosmogonic  days,  could  not,  of  course, 
find  any  correspondence  and  gave  up  the 
narrative  in  despair.  Some  have  tried  to 
obviate  these  difficulties  by  supposing  a 
gap  between  the  act  of  primordial  creation 
and  the  work  of  the  first  day — a  vast  gulf 
into  which  they  sink  all  the  astronomy  and 
geology  of  the  past  ages. 

Others  believe  the  narrative  to  be  an 
accommodation  to  cosmogonic  ideas  cur- 
rent at  the  time  it  was  written.  Others 
again  make  it  an  ideal  history  having  no 
connection  with  real  facts  in  nature. 
Some  have  even  gone  so  far  as  to  conceive 
it  to  be  a  series  of  local  phenomena  which 
occurred  during  six  days  of  twenty -four 
hours,  representing  phases  analogous  to 
those  through  which  the  earth  has  passed, 
thus  disavowing  its  cosmogonic  character  as 


26  CREATION. 

a  history  of  the  universe  and  the  earth,  and 
making  of  the  account  a  pretended  history 
of  six  solar  days,  founded  upon  imaginary 
facts  of  which  geology  has  no  knowledge. 

As  neither  this  pretended  history  nor 
the  true  one  could  have  been  witnessed  by 
any  human  being,  man  having  been  created 
last,  it  is  not  conceivable  that  God  should 
have  chosen  that  mode  of  revelation  rather 
than  the  true  history  of  the  creation. 

Two  fundamental  errors,  both  refuted 
by  Moses  himself,  as  we  shall  hereafter 
see,  have  caused  these  misinterpretations. 
First,  that  the  history  of  the  earth  begins 
at  the  second  verse,  discarding  therefore 
the  organization  of  the  heavens  and  mis- 
aj^plying  the  work  of  the  first  and  second 
day  to  the  earth  alone. 

Second,  making  the  six  cosmogonic  days 
solar  days  of  twenty-four  hours,  whereas, 
according  to  the  text,  such  days  could  only 
exist  after  the  appearance  of  the  sun  on 
the  fourth  cosmogonic  day. 


MODERN    SCIENCE    AND    THE    BIBLE.        27 

We  have  no  rio-ht  to  treat  such  a  docu- 
rnent  lightly,  when  the  holy  writer  de- 
clares that,  "  Thus  the  heavens  and  the 
earth  were  finished,  and  all  the  host  of 
them "  (Gen.  ii.  1)  ;  and  again,  "  These 
are  the  generations  of  the  heavens  and  of 
the  earth"  (Gen.  ii.  4),  we  must  accept 
this  solemn  declaration,  and  believe  that 
he  intends  to  give  us  a  veritable  history  of 
both. 

Guided  by  this  view,  we  shall  consider 
the  cosmogonic  days  as  the  organic  phases, 
or  the  great  periods  of  the  history  of  the 
universe,  and  not  of  the  earth  alone,  and 
look  for  the  special  work  done  in  each,  in 
the  order  indicated  by  Moses,  viz.,  the 
primordial  creation  and  primitive  state  of 
matter,  first ;  Light  as  the  beginning  of  the 
activity  of  matter  and  the  organization  of 
the  heavens,  next;  the  formation  of  the 
terrestrial  globe  of  the  earth,  after,  and  the 
appearance  of  the  sun  and  of  organic  life, 
with  man,  last. 


28  CREATION. 

After  using  faithfully  all  the  light 
which  the  present  science  can  shed  upon 
each  of  these  great  topics,  we  may  hope  to 
be  able  to  say  with  Moses :  "These  are  the 
generations  of  the  heavens  and  of  the 
earth." 

Let  us  now  examine  each  portion  of 
the  narrative  by  itself,  beginning  with  the 
prologue. 


THE  PROLOGUE. 

The  Introduction  to  the  work  of  the  six 
days  is  comprised  in  the  first  and  second 
verses,  in  which  are  recorded : 

a.  The  primordial  creation  of  the  matter 
of  the  universe. 

b.  A  description  of  the  original  state  of 
matter  when  first  created. 

a.  In  the  first  verse  we  are  taught  that 
this  universe  had  a  beginning ;  that  it  was 
created — that  is,  called  into  existence — and 
that  God  was  its  creator.  The  central  idea 
is  creation.  The  Hebrew  word  is  bard, 
translated  by  create.  It  has  been  doubted 
whether  the  word  meant  a  creation,  in  the 
sense  that  the  world  was  not  derived  from 
any   pre-existing   material,   nor   from   the 


30  CREATION. 

substance  of  God  himself ;  but  the  manner 
in  which  it  is  here  used  does  not  seem  to 
justify  such  a  doubt.  For  whatever  be  the 
use  of  the  word  bard  in  other  parts  of  the 
Bible,  it  is  employed  in  this  chapter  in  a 
discriminating  way,  which  is  very  remark- 
able, and  cannot  but  be  intentional.  It  oc- 
curs on  only  three  occasions,  the  first  crea- 
tion of  matter  in  the  first  verse,  the  first 
introduction  of  life  in  the  fifth  day ;  and 
the  creation  of  man  in  the  sixth  day. 

Elsewhere,  when  only  transformations 
are  meant,  as  in  the  second  and  fourth 
days,  or  a  continuation  of  the  same  kind 
of  creation,  as  in  the  land  animals  of  the 
fifth  day,  the  word  asdh  (make)  is  used. 
Bard  is  thus  reserved  for  marking  the  first 
introduction  of  each  of  the  three  great 
spheres  of  existence — the  world  of  matter, 
the  world  of  life,  and  the  spiritual  world, 
represented  by  man  in  this  visible  economy 
— all  three  of  which,  though  intimately 
associated,  are  profoundly  distinct  in  es- 


THE    PROLOGUE.  31 

sence,  and  together  constitute  all  the  uni- 
verse known  to  us. 

Again,  it  is  a  significant  fact  that  in 
the  whole  Bible  where  the  simple  form  of 
bard  is  used  it  is  always  with  reference  to 
a  work  made  by  God,  but  never  by  man. 

What  have  science  and  philosophy  to 
say  about  it  ?  Absolutely  nothing.  Crea- 
tion out  of  nothing  is  a  fact  beyond  their 
pale ;  it  is  the  miracle  of  miracles.  Both 
science  and  philosophy  must  start  from  ex- 
isting premises,  and  nothing  is  no  premise. 
Their  universal,  logical,  conclusion,  there- 
fore, is  that  what  is  always  was,  in  some 
form ;  and  what  is  here  called  creation  is 
but  transformation,  and,  if  so,  that  the 
Universe  is  God,  or  of  God's  substance. 

Whether  we  conceive,  with  the  Brah- 
min, that  the  material  universe  is  an  ema- 
nation from  the  Deity ;  or,  with  the  old 
Egyptians,  that  it  is  itself  a  developing 
God;  or,  with  modern  materialism,  that 
it  is  the  sole  existing  substance,  and  the 


32  CREATION. 

source  of  all  the  phenomena  ever  observed 
in  nature  and  in  man,  pantheism  and  ma- 
terialism are  at  the  door,  with  all  their  in- 
ternal impossibilities,  and  with  all  the  con- 
tradictions they  engender  in  the  bosom  of 
the  free,  moral,  spiritual  being,  in  the  heart 
of  humanity. 

We  have,  therefore,  to  accept,  on  trust, 
the  truth  of  creation  as  an  ultimate  fact, 
not  to  be  reached  by  any  reasoning  pro- 
cess, but  which,  being  accepted,  makes 
clear  to  the  mind  and  heart  the  relations 
of  the  universe,  and  of  man  to  God.  Thus 
Paul's  declaration  remains  forever  true : 
"  Through  faith  we  understand  that  the 
worlds  were  framed  by  the  word  of  God." 

Hence  the  necessity  of  a  direct  revela- 
tion of  these  fundamental  truths,  to  which 
human  wisdom  could  not  attain  in  any 
other  way,  and  which  without  the  sanction 
of  God's  word  were  doomed  to  remain  sim- 
ple hypotheses,  incapable  of  proof. 


VI. 


THE  PRIMITIVE   STATE  OF  MATTER  WHEN  FIRST 
CREATED. 

b.  This  is  described  in  the  second  verse : 
"And  the  earth  was  desolateness  and 
emptiness;  and  darkness  was  upon  the 
face  of  the  deep ;  and  the  Spirit  of  God 
brooded  upon  the  face  of  the  waters." 

Two  words  here — the  earth  and  the  wa- 
ters— must  be  rightly  interpreted  before  we 
can  proceed  with  safety.  After  the  majes- 
tic exordium  in  the  first  verse,  embracing 
the  whole  creation,  it  is  not  without  some 
surprise  that  in  the  second  verse  we  find 
the  narrative  apparently  confined  to  our 
little  planet.  But  does  (erets)  the  earth 
mean  here  our  terrestrial  globe,  with  its 
lands  and  seas,  already  individualized,  sep- 
arated from  the  rest  of  the  universe,  and 


34  CREATION. 

the  organization  of  which  is  mentioned 
later  as  the  special  work  of  the  third  day  ? 
I  think  not.  The  reasons  for  this  con- 
clusion are  many. 

1st.  If  erets  were  here  the  earth,  we 
should  have  to  consider  the  works  of  the 
first  and  second  creative  days  as  referring 
to  the  earth  alone,  and  should  be  com- 
pelled to  renounce  the  idea  that  the  Bibli- 
cal record  intends  to  give  us,  as  Moses  de- 
clares, the  generations  of  the  heavens  and 
of  the  earth — that  is,  a  real  cosmogony. 

2d.  In  this  case  all  that  is  found  in  it  is 
but  a  geological  history  of  our  globe. 

3d.  Thus  leaving  out  the  heavens  is  at 
variance,  not  only  with  the  declaration 
of  Moses,  but  with  the  tenor  of  all  the  an- 
cient cosmogonies  of  which  that  of  the  first 
chapter  of  Genesis  may  be  regarded  as  a 
prototype. 

4th.  This  would  render,  as  we  shall  see, 
the  reconciliation  with  the  scientific  facts, 
determined  by  physics  and  astronomy,  for 


THE    PRIMITIVE    STATE    OF    MATTER.       35 

explaining  the  first  and  second  day.  very 
difficult,  if  not  impossible. 

5th.  If  the  description  of  matter  given 
in  the  second  verse  is  meant  to  apply  to  a 
terraqueous  globe,  as  some  imagine,  this 
state  of  things  was  no  real  beginning,  but 
the  result  either  of  the  destruction  of  a 
previous  earth,  or  a  medley  of  elements 
only  partially  combined. 

All  these  difficulties  disappear  as  soon 
as  we  admit  that  in  the  second  verse  erets 
is  an  equivalent  for  matter  in  general. 
The  use  of  the  concrete  word  earth,  in- 
stead of  the  generic,  or  abstract,  word 
matter,  is  common  in  most  languages  and 
was  here  a  necessity,  as  such  a  word  as 
matter  does  not  exist  in  the  Hebrew 
tongue.  For  all  these  reasons,  we  feel, 
therefore,  justified  in  understanding  erets 
in  this  early  stage  of  the  history  of  the 
universe,  as  meaning  the  primordial  cos- 
mic material  out  of  which  God's  Spirit, 
brooding  upon  the  waters,  was  going  to 


36  CREATION. 

organize,  at  the  bidding  of  His  Almighty 
Word,  the  universe  and  the  earth. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  waters  of 
the  second  verse.  The  Hebrew  word 
maim  does  not  necessarily  mean  waters, 
but  applies  as  well  to  the  gaseous  atmos- 
phere ;  it  is  simply  descriptive  of  the  state 
of  cosmic  matter  comprised  in  the  word 
earth.  These  waters  are  the  subtle,  ethe- 
real, fluid  which,  in  the  cosmogony  of  the 
ancient  Egyptians,  was  supposed  to  extend 
beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  visible  uni- 
verse, whose  material  had  been  drawn 
from  that  vast  reservoir  of  all  existence. 
The  Bible  itself  gives  us,  in  the  Book  of 
Job,  in  the  Prophets,  and  in  the  Psalms, 
ample  proofs  of  the  familiarity  of  their 
authors  with  that  grand  conception  which, 
being  accepted  by  them,  teaches  us  the 
true  interpretation  of  the  Genesiac  ac- 
count. 

No  more  convincing  example  of  the  na- 
ture of  the  cosmogonic  ideas  which  were 


THE    PRIMITIVE    STATE    OF    MATTER.       37 

current  among  the  biblical  writers,  who  no 
doubt  derived  them  from  Genesis,  can  be 
cited  than  the  words  of  David  in  the 
148th  Psalm. 

The  Psalmist  invites  all  creatures  of 
God  to  praise  Him ;  dividing  them  into 
two  classes,  "  those  of  the  heavens  and 
those  of  the  earth,"  and  naming  them  in 
the  order  of  their  rank  from  the  earth 
upward.  "  Praise  ye  the  Lord  from  the 
heavens  :  praise  ye  Him,  sun  and  moon  : 
praise  ye  Him,  all  ye  stars  of  light ; " 
and,  going  still  higher,  "Praise  Him,  ye 
heavens  of  heavens ;  "  and,  last  and  high- 
est, "ye  waters  that  be  above  the  heav- 
ens." These  evidently  are  the  "  waters  " 
of  Genesis  which  precede  the  light,  the 
firmament  of  heaven,  and  the  earth  and 
the  seas.  Reading  a  few  lines  farther, 
we  have  the  proof  that  the  Psalmist  does 
not  confound  these  waters  above  the  heav- 
ens with  the  terrestrial  waters  of  the  seas 
and  the  atmosphere,  for,  calling  upon  the 


38  CREATION. 

things  of  earth  to  praise  the  Lord,  he 
names  the  dragons,  and  all  deeps — the 
seas — fire,  hail,  vapors,  and  winds. 

The  sense  of  these  two  words  being  thus 
settled,  every  word  of  the  second  verse  be- 
comes clear  and  natural.  The  matter  just 
created  was  gaseous  ;  it  was  without  form, 
for  the  property  of  gas  is  to  expand  in- 
definitely. It  was  void,  or  empty,  because 
apparently  homogeneous  and  invisible.  It 
was  dark,  because  as  yet  inactive,  light  be- 
ing the  result  of  the  action  of  physical  and 
chemical  forces  not  yet  awakened.  It  was 
a  deep,  for  its  expansion  in  space,  though 
indefinite,  was  not  infinite,  and  it  had  di- 
mensions. And  the  Spirit  of  God  moved 
upon  the  face  (outside,  and  not  inside,  as  the 
pantheist  would  have  it)  of  that  vast,  inert, 
gaseous  mass,  ready  to  impart  to  it  motion, 
and  to  direct  all  its  subsequent  activity, 
according  to  a  plan  gradually  revealed  by 
the  works  of  the  great  cosmic  days,  the  true 
nature  of  which  we  shall  try  to  explain. 


THE    PRIMITIVE    STATE    OF    MATTER.       39 

The  central  idea  of  the  second  verse  is 
the  state  of  matter  when  first  created. 
The  description  applies,  therefore,  to  the 
matter  of  the  universe  and  not  to  that 
of  the  earth  alone.  The  distorted  and 
forced  interpretations  which  have  ob- 
scured the  first  part  of  the  Mosaic  account 
nearly  all  arise  from  the  fundamental 
error  which  is  here  corrected.  There  is 
no  gap  between  the  first  and  second 
verses ;  no  more  than  in  any  other  part  of 
the  narrative.  And  we  shall  try  to  show 
that  the  Genesiac  account  is  throughout,  a 
consistent  history  of  constant,  regular,  and 
uninterrupted  progress,  from  this  chaotic 
beginning  to  the  creation  of  man. 

Such  is  the  statement  of  Moses  as  to  the 
original  condition  of  matter,  and  science 
does  not  tell  a  different  story.  Minerals, 
plants,  animals — all  bodies  of  nature — are 
compound  results  of  processes  which  speak 
of  a  previous  condition.  By  decomposing 
them,  and  undoing  what  has  been  done  be- 


40  CREATION. 

fore,  we  finally  arrive  at  the  simple  chemi- 
cal elements  which  are  the  substratum  of 
all  bodies.  The  same  again  may  be  said  of 
the  three  forms  of  matter — solid,  liquid, 
and  gaseous.  The  least  defined — the  one  in 
which  the  atoms  are  the  most  free — is  the 
gaseous.  All  bodies  in  nature  can  be  re- 
duced to  this,  the  simplest  of  the  forms  of 
matter.  Herschel,  La  Place,  Arago,  and 
Alexander,  therefore,  among  astronomers; 
Ampere,  among  physicists ;  Becquerel  and 
Thenard,  among  chemists ;  Cuvier  and 
Humboldt,  among  geologists,  all  have  ar- 
rived at  the  same  conclusion,  that  this  un- 
compounded,  homogeneous,  gaseous  condi- 
tion of  matter  must  have  been  the  begin- 
ning of  the  universe. 

But  by  a  second  statement,  Moses  adds 
to  these  material  elements  another,  entirely 
distinct  from  them,  viz.,  the  presence  of 
God's  Spirit  as  the  source  of  movement  in 
that  limitless  mass  of  matter.  In  no  part 
of  the  narrative  does  God  appear  inactive. 


THE    PRIMITIVE    STATE    OP    MATTER.       41 

Distinct  in  essence  from  his  works,  lie  calls 
them  into  existence  by  his  will,  manifested 
by  his  word,  sustaining  and  organizing 
them  by  his  supreme  intelligence,  and  sanc- 
tioning them  by  his  approval.  The  idea 
of  God  creating  the  universe  as  a  perfect 
machine,  acting  automatically  throughout 
the  ages,  according  to  laws  established  by 
himself,  whose  government  he  gives  up,  is 
entirely  absent. 

What  does  science  say  in  regard  to 
it? 

The  answer  to  this  grave  question  must 
be  postponed,  for  we  shall  be  better  able 
to  discuss  it  when  life  is  introduced  into 
the  world. 

Meanwhile  we  will  only  remark  that  this 
view  is  not  in  the  least  inconsistent  with 
the  stability  and  the  permanency  of  nature's 
physical  laws ;  no  more  than  when  man 
uses  gravitation,  electricity,  heat,  etc.,  to 
obtain  effects  which  the  combination  of 
these  forces,  acting  according  to  their  im- 


42  CREATION. 

mutable  laws,  but  left  to  themselves,  would 
never  produce. 

Man  cannot  create  the  least  particle  of 
material  force,  or  change  its  nature ;  this 
is  God's  province.  But  if  these  forces  were 
not  acting  uniformly,  and  if  we  could  not 
count  upon  their  perfect  stability,  the 
world  of  human  art  and  science  would  be- 
come impossible. 

The  complicated  engine  which  produces 
such  marvellous  effects  is  not  the  result  of 
the  material  elements  of  which  it  is  com- 
posed, and  the  physical  forces  used  in  it, 
but  it  is  the  work  of  the  mind  of  the  en- 
gineer adapting  them  to  his  purpose. 


VII. 

THE   FIRST  COSMOGONIC  DAY. 

Light   Appears. 
"  And  God  said,  Let  there  be  Light  and  Light  was." 

We  now  have  a  starting-point,  bnt  yet  no 
activity,  no  progress.  All  beginnings  are 
in  darkness  and  silence.  The  era  of  prog- 
ress opens  with  the  first  day's  work.  At 
God's  command,  movement  begins  and  the 
first  result  is  the  production  of  light.  This 
was  no  creation,  but  a  simple  manifestation 
of  the  activity  of  matter ;  for,  according  to 
modern  physics,  heat  and  light  are  but  dif- 
ferent intensities  of  the  vibratory  motions 
of  matter. 

To  understand  the  process,  let  us  also 
note  that  the  present  theory  of  light  re- 
quires the  presence  of  a  general  ethereal 


44  CREATION. 

medium,  in  which  matter  is  plunged,  by 
which,  it  is  penetrated,  and  which,  by  its 
vibration,  is  capable  of  transmitting  move- 
ment to  all  parts  of  the  universe. 

Are  matter  and  force  one  and  the  same, 
or  is  matter  a  sub-stratum  and  an  instru- 
ment for  force,  as  the  body  is  for  the 
mind  ? 

This  vexed  metaphysical  question  is  not 
likely  ever  to  be  solved.  If  we  incline  to 
the  last  view  we  may  conceive  that  God 
then  endowed  inert  matter  with  the  forces 
which  we  find  always  associated  with  it — 
gravitation,  the  general  quantitative  force, 
and  the  specific  qualitative  forces  and  their 
correlatives.  Under  the  uniform  action  of 
gravitation,  which  tends  to  unity,  and  from 
which  no  molecule  can  be  screened  by  an 
interposing  body,  that  immeasurable  mass 
of  gaseous  matter  contracts.  In  this  pro- 
cess, latent  heat  is  given  out,  atoms  con- 
glomerate into  molecules ;  nearer  approach 
begets  continual  chemical  combinations  on 


THE    FIRST    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  45 

a  multitude  of  points.  In  the  more  con- 
centrated parts,  beat  is  intensified  and  light 
is  produced ;  and  the  result  is  the  appear- 
ance in  the  dark  space  of  heaven  of  a  large 
luminous  mass — the  primitive,  grand  nebula 
— the  prototype  of  those  thousands  of  lu- 
minous clouds  observed  by  the  astronomer 
floating  in  the  empty  wastes  within  and 
beyond  our  starry  heavens. 

Though  most  of  the  nebulae,  viewed 
through  the  powerful  telescopes  of  this 
scientific  age,  have  been  found  to  be  clus- 
ters of  distant  or  small  stars,  because  far 
advanced  in  their  development,  the  lumi- 
nous gas  forming  the  transparent  body  of 
many  comets — the  Zodiacal  light,  perhaps 
— and  other  gaseous  heavenly  bodies  may 
serve  to  illustrate  the  condition  of  that 
primitive  nebula. 

The  effect  would  be  the  same  if,  as  some 
surmise,  the  nebula  was  composed  of  in- 
numerable solid  particles  in  a  state  of  in- 
candescence. 


46  CREATION. 

The  words  of  the  text  would  equally 
apply  to  the  formation  of  several  similar 
nebulaa  in  various  parts  of  the  heavens. 

Thus  "  God  separated  the  light  from  the 
darkness  " — that  is,  the  light  of  the  neb- 
ula from  the  dark  outside  matter,  as  yet 
inactive,  and  from  the  empty  space  around. 
"And  God  called  the  light  day,  and  the 
darkness  he  called  nighty  Both  words  are 
here  specific  names  used  without  reference 
to  any  period  or  succession  of  time. 

The  evening  and  the  morning  mark  the 
beginning  and  the  end  of  a  day.  At  first 
sight,  it  seems  that  the  order  ought  to  be 
reversed,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that 
the  beginning  of  that  first  great  phase  of 
development  was  the  time  of  chaotic  dark- 
ness, while  the  glorious  morning  which 
follows  indicates  the  time  during  which 
the  gradual  illumination  of  that  vast  neb- 
ula is  performed,  aud  the  change  from 
darkness  to  light  is  effected.  It  was  thus, 
in  the  nature  of  the  process,  that  the  even- 


THE    FIRST    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  47 

ing  actually  preceded  the  morning,  and  so 
Moses  expresses  it.  It  is  not,  therefore,  as 
some  think,  because  of  the  custom  of  the 
Jews  to  reckon  the  beginning  of  the  day 
from  the  eve  preceding,  but  more  prob- 
ably the  Jews  derived  that  usage  from  the 
Genesiac  account. 

Each  subsequent  cosmogonic  day  has 
also  its  evening  and  morning,  for  each 
transformation  of  a  phase  of  development 
into  another  implies  a  partial  destruction 
of  the  preceding  one,  inaugurating  a  period 
of  relative  darkness  followed  by  one  of 
greater  perfection. 

Such  was  the  first  day,  opening  the  se- 
ries of  works  of  that  grand  cosmogonic 
week;  the  first  great  period  of  develop- 
ment, under  God's  guidance,  of  that  world 
of  matter  just  created.  A  day,  the  dura- 
tion of  which  was  not  measured  by  the 
course  of  the  sun,  which  did  not  exist,  nor 
by  any  definite  length  of  time,  but  by  the 
work  accomplished  in  it. 


48  CREATION. 

"  And  God  saw  the  light  that  it  was 
good."11 

The  Creator  thus  approves  his  own  work 
as  suited  to  his  further  purposes. 


Strange  as  it  may  seem  to  any  one  ac- 
quainted with  God's  work  and  his  method 
in  creation,  one  of  the  most  serious  obsta- 
cles, for  the  greatest  number,  in  perceiv- 
ing the  harmony  of  the  Biblical  account 
with  the  observed  facts  deduced  from  sci- 
ence was,  until  lately,  and  even  to  this  day, 
the  question  of  the  length  of  the  six  crea- 
tive days.  Are  these  days  solar  days  of 
twenty-four  hours,  so  called  natural  days, 
and  has  the  whole  creation  been  finished 
in  an  ordinary  week,  or  are  they  periods 
of  indefinite  length  of  time? 

That  the  general  reader,  not  locking 
deep  into  the  subject,  should  have  been 
satisfied  to  regard  the  creative  days  as  so- 


THE    FIRST    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  49 

called  natural  days,  is  easily  conceivable. 
It  is  less  easy  to  understand  that  distin- 
guished divines,  and  learned  commentators, 
should  have  employed  the  greatest  ingenu- 
ity in  trying,  often  by  the  most  extraordi- 
nary arguments,  to  defend  the  prima  facie 
meaning  of  the  text.  Some  have  even  im- 
agined, for  the  purpose,  a  fanciful  history 
of  the  earth,  of  which  geology  knows  noth- 
ing. One  of  the  most  gifted  and  popular 
authors  of  this  class  goes  so  far  as  to  give, 
as  the  true  history,  taught  by  the  Bible, 
an  aimless  reiteration  of  the  astronomical 
and  geological  phenomena  which  might 
have  occurred,  during  six  times  twenty- 
four  hours,  in  the  little  corner  of  the 
earth,  where  man  was  created,  at  the  end 
of  these  six  days. 

It  should  be  said,  however,  in  justice  to 
that  class  of  expositors  of  the  first  chapter 
of  Genesis,  that  the  geological  history  of 
the  earth  had  not  then  acquired  the  solid 
foundation  of  facts  on  which  it  now  rests. 

4 


50  CREATION. 

The  tenacity  with  which  the  idea  was 
held,  that  the  six  creative  days  could  pos- 
sibly be  solar  days,  only  shows  the  force  of 
first  impressions  and  transmitted  habits, 
for  its  correctness  is  disproved  in  the  most 
absolute  manner  by  the  text  and  the  whole 
tenor  of  the  Biblical  record,  as  well  as  by 
the  study  of  nature. 

The  reference  in  the  Decalogue,  to  the 
seventh  cosmogonic  day  as  a  foundation 
for  the  Sabbath  of  man,  was  another  stum- 
bling-block, as,  at  first  sight,  it  suggests  a 
complete  similarity  of  the  two  Sabbaths. 

This  difficulty  will  be  considered  here- 
after. 

The  Hebrew  word  yom  (day)  is  used  in 
this  chapter  in  five  different  senses,  just  as 
we  use  the  word  day  in  common  language : 

1.  The  day,  meaning  light,  cosmic  light, 
without  reference  to  time  or  succession. 

2.  The  cosmogonic  day,  the  nature  of 
which  is  now  to  be  determined. 

3.  The  day  of  twenty-four  hours  which 


THE    FIRST   COSMOGONIC    DAT.  51 

begins  in  the  fourth  cosmogonic  day, 
where  it  is  said  of  the  sun  and  moon, 
"  Let  them  be  for  days  and  for  seasons 
and  for  years." 

4.  The  light  part  of  the  same  day  of 
twenty -four  hours,  as  opposed  to  the 
night. 

5.  In  Genesis  ii.,  4,  in  the  day  that  the 
Lord  God  made  the  heavens  and  the 
earth,  embracing  the  week  of  creation,  or 
an  indefinite  period  of  time. 

The  days  of  twenty-four  and  twelve 
hours,  which  require  the  presence  of  the 
sun,  are  excluded  from  the  first  three 
cosmogonic  days,  since  the  sun  made  its 
appearance  only  on  the  fourth  day.  No 
reason  is  apparent  in  the  text  why  the  last 
two  days  should  be  of  a  different  nature 
from  the  others,  while  the  geological  his- 
tory of  the  creation  of  animals  and  man 
demonstrates  that  they  are  long,  indefinite 
periods  of  time.  The  word  day,  as  light 
opposed  to  darkness,  in  the  first  day,  and 


52  CREATION. 

again  as  used  in  the  fifth  sense,  as  embrac- 
ing the  whole  creative  week,  has  no  appli- 
cation here.  The  cosmogonic  day,  there- 
fore, only  remains,  and  its  special  sense  is 
to  be  determined  by  its  nature. 

We  have  seen  already  that  each  of  these 
days  is  marked  by  a  work,  and  each  work 
is  one  of  the  great  steps  in  the  realization 
of  God's  plan — one  of  the  great  changes 
which  constitute  the  organic  phases  of 
that  history.  Time  is  here  without  im- 
portance. It  is  given  long  or  short  as 
needed.  As  God's  works  are  done  by 
means  and  processes  which  we  can  study, 
that  study  tells  us  that  for  each  of  those 
great  works  of  the  creative  days,  their 
Author,  before  whom  a  thousand  years  are 
as  one  day, — has  chosen  to  employ  ages  to 
bring  them  to  perfection. 

As  in  the  growth  of  the  plant  we  dis- 
tinguish the  germinating,  the  leafing,  the 
flowering,  and  the  seeding  processes,  as 
so  many   organic  phases  which  might  be 


THE    FIRST    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  53 

called  the  days  of  the  plant's  history, 
without  reference  to  the  length  of  time 
allotted  to  each,  so  we  have  here  the  day 
of  the  cosmic  light,  the  day  of  the  heavens, 
the  day  of  the  earth,  the  day  of  the  solar 
light,  the  day  of  the  lower  animals,  and 
the  clay  of  the  mammals  and  man ;  which 
are  really  the  great  phases  of  God's  creation. 


VIII. 

SECOND  COSMOGONIC  DAY. 

The  Organization  of  the  Heavens. 

"  And  God  said,  Let  there  be  an  expanse  (firmament)  in 
the  midst  of  the  waters,  and  let  it  separate  the 
waters  from  the  waters  ;  and  God  called  the  expanse 
Heavens.  And  the  evening  and  the  morning  were 
the  second  day." 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  English  ver- 
sion has  translated  the  Hebrew  word 
rahidk  (expanse)  by  the  word  firmament. 
This  is  due  to  the  influence  of  the  Latin 
Vulgate,  which  has  firmamentum  as  the 
equivalent  of  the  inexact  crspeopa  of  the 
Septuagint.  This  last  word  refers  to  the 
current  Egyptian  conception  of  a  solid 
vault  of  heaven,  separating  the  lower  visi- 
ble world  from  the  upper  world  of  subtle, 
invisible  matter  beyond.     This   view  was 


SECOND    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  DO 

held  by  the  Greek  translators,  but  is  not 
warranted  by  the  Hebrew  text,  and  ren- 
ders it  unintelligible.  If  it  were  correct, 
how  could  it  be  said  that  God  called  that 
solid  vault  "  heavens  "  ? ;  and  further,  verse 
20,  that  God  created  the  birds  to  fly  in  the 
open  "firmament"  of  heaven?  In  both 
cases  expanse  is  evidently  the  fitting  word. 
The  second  cosmogonic  day  has  been 
another  stumbling-block  to  commentators. 
The  difficulties  they  have  created  for  them- 
selves arose,  as  I  have  explained  above, 
from  depriving  it  of  its  cosmogonic  char- 
acter and  belittling  it  by  reducing  the 
great  phenomena  there  described  to  simple 
modifications  of  the  terrestrial  atmosphere. 
In  doing  so,  they  find  no  other  explanation 
for  the  waters  above  and  the  waters  below 
the  heavens,  than  to  consider  the  first  as 
the  clouds,  the  second  as  the  seas,  separated 
by  an  expanse  of  transparent  air  which 
is  called  the  heavens.  They  forget  how 
small  a  part  of  the  earth  is  the  total  atmos- 


56  CREATION. 

phere  which  surrounds  it  as  a  thin  pellicle. 
They  forget  that  this  thin  covering  of 
clouds  is  but  a  temporary  and  ever-chaDg- 
ing  one ;  and  that  the  clouds  are  in  that 
heaven  rather  than  above  it.  They  do  not 
comprehend  how  small  a  heaven  it  is  in 
which  it  is  said,  a  few  lines  farther  on, 
that  the  birds  are  flying.  They  forget 
that  this  is  not  the  true  heavens  in  which 
are  spread  the  sun  and  moon  and  stars. 
They  refuse  to  be  taught  by  the  Psalmist, 
whose  clear  and  positive  description  gives, 
in  the  148th  Psalm,  just  quoted,  the  very 
order  in  which  these  various  envelopes 
of  our  earth  succeed  each  other,  and  in 
which  the  terrestrial  phenomena,  clouds, 
rains,  hail,  and  winds,  are  so  sharply  defined 
as  being  below  the  heavens  whence  shines 
the  sun  and  moon  and  stars;  and  where 
these  last  are  said  to  be  surmounted  by  the 
heavens  of  heavens  and  the  waters  above 
the  heavens.  All  these  are  the  successive, 
concentric   heavens,    each    one   surpassing 


SECOND    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  57 

the  other  in  immensity,  the  idea  of  which 
was  so  familiar  to  the  Egyptian  and  other 
ancient  cosmogonies,  and  whose  echoes  we 
find  so  often  throughout  the  Bible. 

The  organization  of  these  heavens,  to- 
gether with  the  innumerable  shining  bodies 
which  animate  them,  and  not  the  narrow 
space  between  the  clouds  and  the  earth, 
is  the  worthy  object  of  the  work  of  the 
second  cosmogonic  day. 

This  grand  day,  so  dwarfed  and  misun- 
derstood, is  the  one  in  which  are  described 
the  generations  of  the  heavens,  announced 
by  Moses,  which  otherwise  find  no  place 
in  the  narrative  of  the  creative  week. 
For  on  the  fourth  day,  when  the  sun  and 
moon  are  made  to  appear  for  the  use  of 
the  life-system,  viz.:  the  days  and  the  years 
and  the  seasons,  the  word  heavens  is  men- 
tioned simply  as  the  already  existing  space 
in  which  these  bodies  are  placed. 

We  find  a  confirmation  of  this  view  of 
the  second  day  in  the  nature  of  nearly  all 


58  CREATION. 

the  ancient,  oriental  cosmogonies.  In  com- 
paring the  most  important  of  them,  we 
find  traits  of  resemblance  which  seem  to 
indicate  that  they  had  a  common  origin  in 
earlier  traditions,  of  which  Moses'  narra- 
tive is  the  true  prototype,  while  the  others 
give  us  only  features  distorted  by  the 
imagination  of  their  authors.  But  all  are 
intended  to  give  the  development  of  the 
universe  of  which  the  earth  is  mentioned 
as  only  a  part. 

The  Egyptian  cosmogony,  the  outlines 
of  which  bear  the  most  resemblance  to  the 
Mosaic,  may  serve  as  an  example. 

The  Egyptians  conceived  the  whole  uni- 
verse as  a  gradually  developing  deity,  com- 
posed of  four  great  elements;  the  primi- 
tive spirit,  or  Kneph  ;  the  primitive  matter, 
Neith;  the  primitive  time,  Sevech;  and  the 
primitive  space,  Paselit;  none  of  which 
could  be  derived  from  the  other,  and  which 
together  constitute  the  one  primitive  god 
— a  sort  of  quaternity,  all  the  elements  of 


SECOND    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  59 

which  are  material.  In  this  conception 
the  spirit  was  not  distinguished  from  mat- 
ter, as  it  is  in  the  modern  sense  of  these 
words. 

The  universe  to  be  developed  was  fig- 
ured under  the  form  of  a  great  ball — the 
primitive  egg — surrounded  by  the  most 
subtle  substance,  the  Kneph,  brooding  over 
it  and  preparing  it  for  the  further  trans- 
formations. 

In  the  bosom  of  this  invisible  deity, 
separate  themselves,  in  the  course  of  long 
ages,  the  coarser,  material  elements,  out  of 
which  the  visible  universe  is  to  be  shaped 
by  gradual  development.  The  first  prod- 
uct of  the  alliance  of  Kneph  and  JVeith, 
spirit  and  matter,  was  jPhtah,  the  primi- 
tive fire,  under  the  action  of  which  all  the 
activity  and  life  in  that  inner  world  were 
developed. 

The  next  step  was  the  separation  of  that 
vast  material  into  two  divinities — the  vault 
of  heaven,  the  firmament,  Pe;    the  mass 


60  CREATION. 

of  the  earth,  Anuke,  as  yet  unformed. 
Above  the  vault  of  heaven  were  the  subtle, 
dark,  ethereal  substances  of  the  primitive 
invisible  deity.  These  were  the  waters 
above  the  heavens  spoken  of  by  most  of 
the  ancient  cosmogonies.  The  masses  of 
matter  below,  especially  Anuke,  were  the 
waters  under  the  heavens,  out  of  which 
the  sun  and  moon  were  next  developed. 

All  these  transformations  consumed  long 
periods  of  time.  The  duration  of  the  first 
period,  that  of  Plitali,  or  the  universal 
light,  could  not  be  determined,  say  the 
Egyptians,  because  there  was  no  sun  to 
measure  it.  With  the  formation  of  the 
sun  two  new  deities  appear,  Sate,  or  the 
illuminated  half  of  the  ball,  and  Hator, 
the  dark  half,  deprived  of  the  rays  of  the 
sun.  After  these,  the  gradual  organization 
of  the  earth  took  place,  the  earth  occupy- 
ing the  centre  of  the  universe. 

It  is  evident  that  all  these  so-called 
deities  are  no  persons,  but  personified  cos- 


SECOND    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  61 

inical  ideas,  or  individualizations  of  parts 
of  nature,  the  relations  of  which  are  figured 
by  genetic  connections,  and  forming  to- 
gether a  vast  and  complicated  material 
polytheism,  which  finally  embraces  also 
the  life-system  and  the  animal  worship  so 
characteristic  of  Egypt. 

Let  us  note  here  the  external  points  of 
resemblance  between  this  degenerate  cos- 
mogony and  that  of  the  Bible,  its  proto- 
type. 

In  the  Egyptian : 

1.  The  original  gaseous  form,  and  the 
darkness  of  matter. 

2.  The  successive  transformations. 

3.  Phtah,  the  light,  as  the  first  step  in 
this  development. 

4.  The  separation  of  the  visible  from 
the  invisible  universe,  or,  the  waters  below 
and  the  waters  above  the  expanse. 

5.  The  periods  of  development  of  indefi- 
nite length. 


62  CREATION. 

6.  The  sun,  moon,  and  earth  organized 
last. 

But  inwardly  what  profound  contrasts  ! 

The  Bible  knows  : 

1.  God,  the  living  God,  the  personal 
Creator,  calling  the  universe  into  existence, 
instead  of  a  mass  of  matter,  eternal,  un- 
conscious, self -developing  into  a  material 
world. 

2.  God  distinct  and  above  His  creatures, 
preceding  them  in  time  and  governing 
them  by  His  supreme  will,  instead  of  one 
confounded  with  them  and  developing  with 
them. 

3.  God  ordering  by  His  word  and  exe- 
cuting by  His  will  every  transformation. 

%  4.  God  working  according  to  a  precon- 
ceived plan  toward  an  aim  which,  when 
realized,  is  declared  by  Him  very  good, 
instead  of  a  world  growing  by  an  auto- 
matic development. 


SECOND    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  63 

In  the  heathen  cosmogonies  Nature's 
law  governs;  it  is  the  law  of  necessity. 
In  the  Biblical  cosmogony  God  reigns  su- 
preme. Nature  is  under  the  law  of  His 
free  will  and  liberty. 

Let  us  now  see  what  science  can  tell  us 
about  the  organization  of  the  heavens. 

The  central  idea  of  this  day's  work  is 
division  or  separation.  The  vast  primitive 
nebula  of  the  first  day  breaks  up  into  a 
multitude  of  gaseous  masses,  and  these  are 
concentrated  into  stars.  Motion  is  every- 
where. Gravitation  and  the  chemical 
forces  tend  to  concentrate  matter  around 
various  centres,  and  thus  to  isolate  them 
from  each  other ;  centrifugal  force  tends  to 
disperse  them.  Under  the  laws  of  the 
forces  of  matter  and  motion — established 
by  God  himself,  and  acting  under  His 
guidance — these  numberless  bodies,  of  all 
forms  and  sizes,  which  fill  the  space  and 
adorn  our  heavens,  combine  into  those 
worlds  and  groups  of  worlds  whose  won- 


64  CREATION. 

derful  organization  it  is  the  province  of 
astronomy  to  discover  and  describe. 

It  is  premature  to  say  that  this  noble 
science  has  as  yet  furnished  us  a  satis- 
factory history  of  the  generations  of  the 
starry  heavens,  and  of  their  real  structure. 

But  much  has  been  done  toward  it. 
The  grand  conception  of  the  structure  of 
the  heavens,  proposed  by  Herschel,  seems 
to  adapt  itself  to  the  text.  Gauging  the 
heavens  in  all  directions  with  his  telescope 
he  found  regions  crowded  with  stars,  while 
in  other  parts  they  are  few  and  far  distant 
from  each  other.  These  appearances,  says 
Herschel,  can  be  accounted  for  by  conceiv- 
ing that  all  our  visible  heavens  are  but  an 
immense  cluster  of  self-luminous  stars,  of 
which  our  sun,  with  its  retinue  of  planets, 
is  but  one,  situated  not  far  from  the  centre. 
The  form  of  this  vast  cluster  is  that  of  a 
disk,  whose  outer  boundary  is  the  Milky 
Way.  In  this  the  stars  seem  ready  to 
break   up   and  assume  the   shape  of   the 


SPIRAL  NEBULA  OF  LORD  ROSSE 
CIRCULAR    NEBULA. 


SECOND    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  65 

branches  of  a  spiral  nebula.  Beyond  ex- 
tends, in  immeasurable  distance,  the  dark 
abyss  of  space.  In  this,  again,  are  thou- 
sands of  nebulous  masses,  each  of  which 
may  be  a  starry  heaven  like  ours.  Here 
we  may  fancy  we  recognize — in  the  cluster 
of  visible  stars,  to  which  our  sun,  moon,  and 
earth  itself  belong — the  waters  below  the 
heavens,  followed  by  the  vast  expanse  be- 
yond, containing  the  world  of  the  nebulae 
— the  heavens  of  heavens,  and  the  waters 
above  the  heavens,  of  which  the  Psalmist 
speaks. 

According  to  Maedler  all  the  heavenly 
bodies  revolve  around  a  common  centre 
of  gravity,  situated  in  the  region  of  the 
Pleiades. 

Alexander,  on  the  contrary,  recognized 
in  the  great  spiral  nebulae  of  Lord  Rosse, 
whose  composing  stars  are  launched  by 
centrifugal  force  into  space,  in  parabolic 
lines,  never  to  return  by  the  same  paths 
again,  the  very  process  by  which  the  Crea- 


66  CREATION. 

tor  dispersed  these  stars  throughout  the 
heavens,  and  thus  peopled  their  empty 
spaces  with  these  luminous  bodies. 

But  whether  we  accept  the  views  of 
Herschel,  of  Maedler,  or  of  Alexander, 
concerning  the  structure  and  formation  of 
the  heavens,  one  fact  admitted  by  all  is 
the  work  of  separation,  of  individualiza- 
tion, which  must  have  preceded  the  present 
combination  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  is 
indicated  as  the  special  work  of  the  second 
cosmogonic  day. 

But  while  that  process  of  separation 
and  dispersion  is  going  on,  the  gradual 
concentration  of  each  special  sun  leads  to 
another  kind  of  individualization  of  which 
our  solar  system  offers  the  only  example 
accessible  to  our  observation,  viz. :  the 
formation  of  dark  planets  and  satellites. 
While  in  the  twin  stars  revolving  round  a 
common  centre  of  gravity,  we  perceive  the 
effect  produced  when  the  masses  are  nearly 
equal,  in  the  nebulous  stars  of  all  grades 


SECOND    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  67 

we  follow  the  gradual  concentration  from 
a  gaseous  state  to  a  compact  and  well- 
defined  body.  In  the  genesis  of  our  solar 
system,  as  explained  by  the  genius  of  La 
Place  and  submitted  by  Stephen  Alexan- 
der to  exhaustive  calculations,  the  result 
of  which  amounts  almost  to  a  demonstra- 
tion of  its  truth,  we  see  how  a  family  of 
planets  has  been  detached  from  a  vast 
central  body  which  holds  them  in  bondage 
in  their  orbits  by  the  power  of  its  mass. 

This  last  history,  which  immediately 
concerns  the  earth  as  one  of  the  daughters 
of  our  sun,  is  so  important  in  helping  us 
to  understand  the  phases  of  development 
undergone  by  our  globe,  that  it  may  be 
well  to  give  a  short  outline  of  the  founda- 
tion on  which  it  rests. 

1.  It  is  found  that  the  distances  of 
the  orbits  of  the  planets  from  the  sun 
follow  a  nearly  regular  law,  which  is,  that, 
starting  from  the  orbit  of  Mercury  and 
counting  the  place  of  the  asteroids  as  one 


68  CREATION. 

planet,    each    succeeding    orbit    is    about 
double  the  distance  of  the  preceding  one. 

2.  On  the  whole,  the  planets  nearer 
the  sun  are  smaller  than  the  more  distant 
ones. 

3.  Their  density  is  increasing  with  their 
nearness  to  the  sun. 

4.  All  the  planets  and  their  satellites 
revolve  around  the  sun  in  the  same  direc- 
tion and  nearly  in  the  same  plane  as  the 
equator  of  the  sun  itself. 

5.  The  velocity  of  their  revolution  is 
diminishing  with  their  distance  from  the 
sun. 

6.  The  rapidity  of  their  rotation  on 
their  axis,  on  the  contrary,  is  increasing. 

All  these  coincidences  point  to  a  com- 
mon law  which  seems  to  indicate  a  com- 
munity of  origin. 

To  explain  it  La  Place  had  not  to  go  so 
far  back  as  Herschel,  to  the  point  where 
matter  begins  to  gather  from  the  immen- 
sity of  space  around  a  nucleus  forming  a 


SECOND    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  69 

nebulous  mass.  He  assumed,  as  his  start- 
ing-point, the  sun  as  a  nebulous  star  with 
a  powerful  nucleus,  revolving  on  its  axis, 
and  whose  hot,  gaseous  atmosphere  ex- 
tended beyond  the  limit  of  the  orbit  of 
NejDtune.  Plunged  in  the  cold  abysses  of 
heaven,  in  which  it  loses  incessantly,  by 
radiation,  a  part  of  its  heat,  it  cools  and 
contracts;  its  centrifugal  force  increasing 
rapidly  at  the  same  time.  Under  its  ac- 
tion, the  cool  and  heavier  particles  rush 
toward  the  equatorial  parts,  where,  owing 
to  the  continual  contraction  of  the  main 
body,  they  are  soon  left  behind  in  the 
shape  of  a  ring  similar  to  those  which  we 
observe  around  Saturn. 

According  to  the  laws  of  motion,  the 
ring  continues  to  move  with  the  same  ve- 
locity as  the  main  body  from  which  it  is 
detached.  But  as  the  ring  itself  shrinks 
in  cooling,  its  inner  surface,  receding  from 
the  sun,  begins  to  move  less  rapidly,  while 
the  outside,  approaching  nearer  the  sun, 


70  CREATION. 

moves  with  greater  rapidity.  The  equi- 
librium being  thus  disturbed,  the  riug 
tends  to  break  up,  and  the  outside  gaining 
upon  the  inside,  the,  whole  is  rolled  up 
into  a  single  globular  mass  with  a  rotary 
motion  in  the  same  direction  as  that  of  the 
ring  itself.  The  result  is  a  planet  revolv- 
ing around  the  sun  and  rotating  on  its 
axis  in  the  same  direction  as  the  sun  and 
in  the  plane  of  its  equator.  By  further 
contraction  of  the  sun,  the  same  process 
is  repeated  and  new  planets  are  formed. 
They  decrease  in  size  because  the  detached 
rings  grow  less  at  every  step.  They  in- 
crease in  density,  because  the  later  planets 
are  detached  when  the  density  of  the  sun 
is  increased.  The  larger  planets  have  a 
more  rapid  rotation  because  they  have 
been  contracting  during  a  longer  period  of 
time. 

If  by  the  further  progress  of  astronomi- 
cal science  we  find  ourselves  warranted  in 
accepting  the  grand  views  of  Herschel  on 


SECOND    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  71 

the  construction  of  the  heavens,  the  ex- 
planation of  the  numerous  forms  of  nebulae 
and  nebulous  clusters  as  developed  with 
great  ingenuity  by  Stephen  Alexander  (in 
the  Mathematical  Journal),  and  the  lucid 
exposition  of  our  planetary  and  other 
solar  systems  by  La  Place,  we  might  say 
witli  Moses,  "  These  are  the  generations  of 
the  heavens.' ' 


IX. 

THIRD  COSMOGONIC  DAT. 

This  day  contains  hvo  works,  a.  The  formation  of 
the  material  globe,  b.  The  introduction  of  the  vegeta- 
ble kingdom. 

a.    FOEMATION  OF  THE    EaKTH. 

"  Let  the  waters  nnder  the  heavens  be  gathered  into  one 
place,  and  let  the  dry  land  appear.  And  God  called 
the  dry  land  earth;  and  the  gathering  together  of 
the  waters  called  he  seas." 

The  main  idea  is  condensation  of  matter 
into  the  solid  globe,  its  liquid  covering 
and  gaseous  envelope.  Here,  as  usual, 
Moses  gives  us  the  final  result  of  the  work, 
and  not  the  process  by  which  it  was  pro- 
duced.    For  that  we  must  ask  Geology. 

The  structure  of  the  hard  mantle  of  rock 
which  covers  the  unknown  interior  of  the 
globe,  and  the  nature  of  its  strata,  together 


THE  PHOTOSPHERE  OF  THE 


THIRD    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  73 

with  their  ever-increasing  temperature 
downward,  will  bear  witness  to  the  event- 
ful history  of  the  past  ages  of  our  earth ; 
astronomy  and  chemistry  will  carry  us 
still  higher  up  to  the  very  birth  of  our 
planet. 

The  materials  of  that  part  of  the  earth- 
crust  accessible  to  our  investigation — from 
the  alluvial  surface  sands  and  pebbles, 
through  the  sandstones,  conglomerates, 
slates,  and  limestones,  down  to  the  crystal- 
line bottom  rocks — show  themselves  to  be 
the  debris  of  pre-existing  rocks,  rearranged 
at  the  bottom  of  the  ocean ;  or  due,  as  most 
of  the  limestones,  to  the  secreting  power 
of  the  polyps,  protozoans,  and  most  minute 
animals  of  the  sea. 

The  temperature  of  the  waters  of  this 
ocean  was  no  higher  than  that  of  our 
tropical  seas;  for  these  rocks  contain  in- 
numerable relics  of  marine  animals  similar 
to,  though  not  identical  with,  those  of  the 
present  day.     Lower  down,  the  crystalline 


74  CREATION. 

rocks,  mostly  stratified — the  so-called  meta- 
rnorphic  rocks — still  bear  the  mark  of  an 
aqueous  origin,  but  also  indicate  a  high 
degree  of  temperature  in  the  waters,  which 
explains  both  their  crystalline  character 
and  the  almost  entire  absence  of  traces  of 
life  in  these  early  seas. 

Coming  from  deeper  sources  still,  but 
filling  perpendicular  fissures  or  chimneys, 
as  in  volcanoes,  crystalline  masses  of  por- 
phyry, compact  trap,  basalt,  and  volcanic 
substances  cross  the  regular  strata  up  to 
the  surface,  and  by  their  igneous  nature  re- 
veal the  existence  of  an  internal  temper- 
ature sufficient  to  keep  rocks  in  a  melted 
condition. 

With  these  general  facts  in  view,  and 
aided  by  the  light  derived  from  chemistry, 
physics,  and  astronomy,  we  may  distin- 
guish, in  the  gradual  formation  of  the 
physical  globe,  before  the  introduction  of 
life,  four  periods : 

1.  The  nebulous. 


THIRD    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  75 

2.  The  mineral  incandescent. 

3.  The  period  of  the  hot  oceans. 

4.  The  period  of  the  cold  oceans. 

Admitting,  as  we  do,  the  great  probabil- 
ity of  the  genesis  of  the  solar  system  having 
taken  place,  as  described  above,  according 
to  La  Place ;  in  the  first  period,  the  matter 
of  the  earth  was  a  part  of  the  hot  atmos- 
phere of  the  sun.  In  the  slow  process  of 
contraction,  consequent  upon  its  cooling, 
the  sun  left  it  behind  in  the  form  of  a 
gaseous  ring.  The  ring  breaks  in  several 
places,  and  is  rolled  up  into  a  globular 
mass,  which,  in  accordance  with  the  laws 
of  motion,  rotates  upon  itself,  and  revolves 
around  its  present  body  nearly  in  the  plane 
of  its  equator,  and  with  the  velocity  im- 
parted to  it  by  the  sun  itself  when  it  left 
it  behind.  The  new  globe,  born  from  the 
old  matter  of  the  sun,  now  enters,  as  a 
gaseous  mass,  into  the  first  period  of  its 
separate  existence. 

Loss  of  heat  by  radiation  causes  further 


76  CREATION. 

concentration.  The  molecules,  brought 
nearer  together  and  to  the  proper  temper- 
ature for  chemical  action,  now  combine. 
A  vast,  long-continued,  and  ever-renewed 
conflagration,  with  an  enormous  develop- 
ment of  heat  and  electricity,  takes  place, 
and  the  result  is  an  incandescent,  melted, 
mineral  body,  surrounded  by  a  vast  lu- 
minous atmosphere.  The  earth  is  a  sun; 
quite  similar,  except  in  its  mass,  to  the 
glowing  orb  from  which  the  earth  now 
receives  its  light,  and  which  is  slowly 
passing  through  a  like  period  of  incan- 
descence. This  is  the  second  period  of 
its  history. 

The  cooling  continues :  a  hard  crust  is 
formed  on  the  surface  of  the  melted  body 
of  the  globe,  and,  when  the  temperature 
becomes  low  enough  to  admit  of  the  chem- 
ical combination  of  hydrogen  and  oxygen 
into  water,  the  ocean — which  was  before  a 
part  of  the  atmosphere  in  the  shape  of 
vapor — is  deposited  on  the  solid  surface  of 


TIHHD    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  77 

the  globe.  The  temperature  of  this  first 
ocean  must  have  been  very  high,  owing  to 
the  immense  weight  of  the  atmosphere 
resting  upon  it.  It  has  been  calculated 
that  when  the  deposition  began,  the  tem- 
perature of  the  first  waters  could  not  have 
been  less  than  600°  Fahr.  This  geological 
phase,  though  it  is  one  through  which  a 
cooling  globe  has  passed,  has  not,  thus  far, 
received  the  attention  it  deserves. 

Let  us  try  to  see  what  this  state  of 
things  implies,  for  it  is  important  for  the 
explanation  of  the  fourth  day. 

The  oceans  were  not  only  very  warm, 
but  must  have  been  highly  acidulated ;  for 
all  the  acids  which  form  a  large  part  of 
the  thousands  upon  thousands  of  feet  of 
rocks  deposited  since,  must  have  been  then 
in  the  atmosphere  in  a  gaseous  form. 

These  hot  and  acid  waters,  resting  upon 
the  old  mineral  crust,  must  have  decom- 
posed it,  and  a  new  series  of  chemical 
combinations  have  been  formed,  to  which, 


78  CREATION. 

perhaps,  we  may  refer  the  deposition 
of  the  lowermost  crystalline,  Lawrentian 
rocks  of  Canada  and  other  places,  which 
are  found  at  the  base  of  the  new  terrestrial 
crust — the  only  one  we  actually  know. 

By  these  powerful  chemical  actions  the 
earth  was  transmuted  into  a  vast,  galvanic 
pile,  emitting  constant  streams  of  electric- 
ity, which,  reaching  the  ethereal  space  at 
the  boundary  of  the  thick  atmosphere,  be- 
came luminous.  According  to  Herschel, 
the  photosphere  of  the  sun  may  be  due  to 
a  similar  cause,  and  if  we  accept  the  most 
plausible  explanation  of  the  aurora  bore- 
alis,  it  is  but  the  last  vestige  of  that 
electrical  condition  of  our  globe. 

During  this  third  period  the  earth  was 
still  surrounded  by  a  photosphere  of  sub- 
dued brilliancy :  it  was  a  nebulous  star. 

The  process  of  cooling  goes  on;  the 
physical  and  chemical  forces,  thus  far  so 
active,  subside  and  enter  into  a  state  of 
quiescence ;  the  photosphere  gradually  dis- 


THIRD    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  79 

appears;  the  globe  becomes  an  extinct 
body  ;  the  ocean  cools  down  to  the  mild 
temperature  of  our  tropical  seas,  and  is 
ready  for  the  introduction  of  living  beings. 
The  age  of  matter  is  over ;  the  age  of  life 
is  at  hand.  The  fourth  period  was  that 
of  the  darJc,  extinct  planet  and  the  cool 
oceans. 

This  fourth  period,  and  perhaps  the 
latter  part  of  the  third,  are  represented  in 
the  geological  strata  by  the  so-called  azoic 
rocks,  which  are  found  in  all  continents. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  stage  of  the 
formation  of  the  globe  we  have  no  reason 
to  believe  that  the  three  great  geographi- 
cal elements  were  not  still  in  the  place 
assigned  to  each  by  their  density;  the 
solid  land  forming  the  central  mass,  a 
uniform  ocean  a  general  covering,  and  the 
atmosphere  the  last  envelope.  But  some- 
what later  we  have  evidence  of  the  appear- 
ance of  the  first  land  above  the  waters 
of  the  ocean.      Extensive  surfaces  and  low 


80  CREATION. 

mountain  chains,  both  in  the  Old  and 
New  World,  belong  to  this  age.  Geology 
explains  very  plausibly  the  sinking  of  the 
large  surfaces,  now  containing  the  oceans, 
and  the  rising  between  them  of  the 
continents  and  mountains  by  the  gradual 
shrinkage  of  the  cooling  interior,  forcing 
the  hard  external  crust — which  had  be- 
come too  large — to  mould  itself  on  the 
smaller  sphere  by  folding  into  mighty 
wrinkles.  This  process  could  not  be 
better  described  than  by  the  words  of 
Moses :  "  Let  the  waters  be  gathered  into 
one  place,  and  let  the  dry  land  appear  " — 
implying  that  the  land  was  already  formed 
under  the  surface  of  the  ocean,  and  was 
subsequently  raised  above  it. 

Though,  during  this  physico-chemical  his- 
tory of  the  earth,  all  the  forces  of  mat- 
ter were  at  work,  it  was  not  with  equal 
intensity.  The  most  general  —  gravita- 
tion— prevailed  in  the  nebulous  period ;  in 
the  second  stage,  the  power  of  the  specific 


THIRD    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  81 

chemical  forces,  acting  by  the  dry  process, 
was  greatest ;  in  the  third,  these  forces 
acted  rnore  quietly  by  the  wet  process. 
Later,  during  the  era  of  life,  the  mechani- 
cal forces  of  the  waters  of  the  oceans 
— tides  and  waves — and  land  waters,  to 
which  are  due  the  formation  of  most  of 
the  strata  composing  the  earth  crust,  be- 
came altogether  prevalent.  Thus  every 
period  owes  its  specific  character  to  the 
greater  activity  of  one  of  the  material  forces 
at  work. 

The  first  part  of  this  third  day  closes  the 
era  of  matter. 

In  summing  up  the  creative  work  ac- 
complished during  the  three  cosmogonic 
days,  we  can  easily  recognize  in  this  world 
of  matter  the  same  method  of  successive 
development  as  was  employed  by  the  Crea- 
tor in  the  world  of  life. 

Matter,  a  dark,  uniform,  inactive,  gase- 
ous fluid,  is  the  starting-point.  General 
activity  with  movement  and  light  is  the 


82  CEEATION. 

first  step ;  breaking  up  into  different  indi- 
vidual bodies,  scattered  through  the  heav- 
ens, is  the  second ;  combination  in  organ- 
ized groups,  and  concentration  into  or- 
ganized individuals — as  we  have  been  able 
to  follow  it  up  in  the  formation  of  the 
sun  and  the  earth — is  the  third,  thus  pre- 
paring the  world  of  matter  for  the  world 
of  life. 

But  in  this  third  day  there  is  a  second 
work,  entirely  unlike  the  first,  belonging 
to  the  age  of  organic  life :  the  creation  of 
the  plant 


X. 

THIRD  C0SM0G0NIC  DAY  CONTINUED. 

b.  Vegetation  Appears. 

"  And  God  said,  '  Let  the  earth  bring  forth  vegetation, 
herb  bearing  seed,  fruit  tree  yielding  fruit  after  its 
kind,  whose  seed  is  in  it  upon  the  earth ; '  and  it 
was  so. 

"And  the  earth  brought  forth  vegetation,  herb 
yielding  seed  after  its  kind,  and  tree  yielding  fruit 
whose  seed  is  in  it  after  its  kind  ;  and  God  saw  that 
it  was  good. 

"  And  evening  was,  and  morning  was ;  day  third." 

With  the  appearance  of  vegetation  the 
history  of  the  earth  enters  into  an  entirely- 
new  phase.  It  is  the  beginning,  or  the 
heralding  of  the  Era  of  life. 

When  passing  from  the  phenomena  of  in- 
organic nature,  or  dead  matter,  into  those 
of  organic  nature,  we  find  ourselves  in  an 


84  CREATION. 

entirely  new  domain,  whose  laws  show  no 
similarity  to  those  of  the  preceding  one. 

In  organized  beings  a  new,  immaterial 
principle,  superior  to  matter,  governs  the 
material  molecules  so  as  to  make  them 
assume  new  forms  unknown  to  the  mineral. 

The  hundred  thousand  forms  of  plants 
known  to  botanists  are  composed,  in  the 
main,  of  but  few  of  the  sixty-six  chemical 
elements.  Carbon,  hydrogen,  oxygen,  and 
some  nitrogen  are  made  to  combine  in  a  lim- 
ited  number  of  complex  compounds,  before 
unknown  to  chemistry,  and  which  constitute 
the  chief  substance  of  all  vegetation. 

The  mode  of  growth  in  the  two  realms 
is  totally  unlike. 

The  most  minute  incipient  crystal  has 
the  same  form,  the  same  plane  surfaces 
with  sharply  defined  angles,  as  the  largest 
crystal  of  the  same  kind,  and  grows  with- 
out definite  limitation  by  the  outward  ad- 
dition of  similar  figures,  all  parts  being 
alike.     The  crystal   is   a  fixed   form.     It 


THIRD    COSMOGONIC    DAY    CONTINUED.       85 

does  not  die,  like  the  plant,  by  an  inward 
process,  but  continues  to  exist  until  it  is 
destroyed  by  external  causes. 

The  fundamental  organ  of  both  plants 
and  animals  is  a  flexible,  globular  mole- 
cule— the  cell — already  containing  fluid  in 
motion,  and  growing  by  inward  division. 

The  plant  is  developed  from  a  germ 
or  living  seed,  growing  downward  in  the 
root,  and  upward  through  successive  stages 
in  the  stem,  the  leaf,  the  flower,  and  ter- 
minates the  cycle  of  its  individual  life  by 
the  formation  of  a  new  seed,  destined  to 
reproduce  its  like.  An  ever-circulating 
fluid,  the  sap,  is  bringing  food  to  all  its 
parts. 

In  the  plant,  as  in  every  organized  being, 
there  is  an  inward  principle,  of  individual- 
ity, involved  in  the  seed — a  soul — not  pos- 
sessed by  the  crystal,  with  a  variety  of 
organs  and  functions  working  toward  a 
common  aim,  for  the  benefit  of  the  individ- 
ual.    An  inward  growth  with  a  beginning 


86  CREATION. 

and  a  definite  end,  and  a  power  of  repro- 
duction which  perpetuates  the  species  ;  phe- 
nomena which  are  all  absolutely  foreign  to 
inorganic  matter. 

Should  that  principle  of  life  be  removed 
movement  ceases,  the  growth  is  stopped, 
the  inorganic  molecules  recover  their  free- 
dom and  return  to  their  allegiance,  while 
the  organic  body  decomposes,  loses  its 
form,  and  is  destroyed.  And  still  the 
chemist  finds  in  its  debris  the  identical 
weight  and  materials  wliich  were  employed 
in  its  living  body ;  none  of  the  material 
molecules  are  lost;  but  the  controlling 
power  which  gave  them  the  shape  of  the 
plant  is  gone. 

We  have  therefore  to  recognize  here 
the  introduction  of  a  new  principle.  If  it 
is  not  indicated  in  the  text  by  bard,  it  is 
because  it  is  but  the  peristyle  of  the 
teniple  of  true  life,  the  sentient  life  and 
the  condition  of  its  existence. 

The  characteristics  of  the  plant  kingdom 


THIRD    COSMOGONIC    DAY    CONTINUED.       87 

are  admirably  summed  up  in  the  words, 
"  And  God  said,  Let  the  earth  bring  forth 
vegetation,  the  herb  yielding  seed,  and  the 
fruit-tree  yielding  fruit  after  its  hind, 
whose  seed  is  in  itself'1'' 

The  words  "  Let  the  earth  bring  forth," 
may  seem  to  favor  the  idea  of  a  combina- 
tion of  elements  without  the  introduction 
of  a  new  principle.  But  the  same  phrase 
is  used  in  verse  20,  when  a  true  creation 
(bard) — that  of  the  first  animals — was 
meant  and  took  place.  And  again,  in 
Genesis  ii.,  4th  and  5th,  we  find  "in  the 
day  the  Lord  God  made  every  plant  of  the 
field  before  it  was  in  the  earth,  and  every 
herb  of  the  field  before  it  grew."  This 
declaration  distinguishes  the  plant  life  as 
a  principle  distinct  from  the  matter  which 
it  moulds  into  the  new  form  necessary  for 
its  new  functions. 

This  view  must  be  held  as  the  most  ra- 
tional ;  for  all  experiments — even  the  very 
latest    and   apparently   most   successful — 


88  CREATION. 

made  during  the  ]ast  hundred  years,  up  to 
the  present  time,  to  prove  the  so-called 
spontaneous  generation  of  organized  beings 
from  dead  matter,  have  failed  to  convince 
the  majority  of  thinking  men  of  its  reality. 
Taking  into  consideration  the  present  state 
of  our  knowledge,  we  are  obliged  to  admit 
that  matter,  unaided,  can  never  rise  above 
its  own  level ;  nor,  unless  associated  with 
a  new  power,  can  it  ever  engender  life. 

The  most  important  function  of  the 
plant  in  the  economy  of  nature  is,  with  the 
aid  of  the  sun's  light,  to  turn  inorganic  in- 
to organic  matter,  and  thus  prepare  food 
for  the  animal.  Nothing  else  in  nature 
does  this  important  work.  The  animal 
cannot  do  it,  and  starves  in  the  midst  of 
an  abundance  of  the  materials  needed  for 
the  building  up  of  its  body.  The  plant 
stores  up  force  which  it  is  not  called  upon 
to  use ;  the  animal  takes  it  ready  made  as 
food,  and  expends  it  in  activity.  The 
plant,  therefore,   is   the   indispensable  ba- 


TIIIKD    COSMOGONIC    DAY    CONTINUED.       89 

sis  of  all  animal  life ;  for  though  animals 
partially  feed  upon  each  other,  ultimately 
the  organic  matter  they  need  must  come 
from  the  plant. 

The  manner  in  which  Moses  introduces 
the  creation  of  the  plant,  as  a  work  dis- 
tinct in  its  nature  from  the  first  work  of 
the  third  day,  and  the  position  he  assigns 
to  it,  within  and  at  the  end  of  that  day, 
and  before  the  creation  of  living  beings, 
are  highly  philosophical.  This  order  is 
required  by  the  law  of  progress,  accord- 
ing to  which  the  inferior  appears  before 
the  superior,  because  the  first  is  the  con- 
dition of  the  phenomenal  existence  of  the 
latter. 

Is  this  position  of  the  plant  in  the  order 
of  creation  confirmed  by  geology  ?  If  we 
should  understand  the  text  as  meaning 
that  the  whole  plant  kingdom,  from  the 
lowest  infusorial  form  to  the  highest  di- 
cotyledon, was  created  at  this  early  day, 
geology  would  assuredly  disprove  it.     But 


90  CEEATION. 

tlie  author  of  Genesis,  as  we  have  before 
remarked,  mentions  every  order  of  facts  but 
once,  and  lie  does  it  at  the  time  of  its  first 
introduction.  Here,  therefore,  the  whole 
system  of  plants  is  described  in  full  outline, 
as  it  has  been  developed,  from  the  lowest 
to  the  most  perfect,  in  the  succession  of 
ages ;  for  it  will  never  again  be  spoken  of 
in  the  remainder  of  the  narrative. 

What  plants  actually  existed  at  this  pe- 
riod geology  must  find  out.  The  possi- 
bility of  infusorial  plants  living  in  warm, 
and  ever)  in  hot  water,  is  proved  by  their 
being  found  in  the  geysers  of  Iceland,  and 
in  hot,  acidulated  springs.  The  latest  geo- 
logical investigations  tell  us  that  abun- 
dant traces  of  carbonaceous  matter  and 
old  silicious  deposits,  among  the  so-called 
azoic  rocks,  indicate  the  presence  of  a  large 
number  of  infusorial  protophytes  in  those 
early  seas.  Whether  they  furnished  food 
for  the  primitive  protozoans  of  a  similar 
grade  is  still  a  matter  of  doubt ;  but  the 


THIRD    COSMOGONIC    DAY    CONTINUED.       91 

limestone  strata  in  the  azoic  age  seem  to 
speak  in  the  affirmative. 

The  striking  fact  that  Moses,  though 
fully  recognizing  the  great  difference  be- 
tween the  two  works  of  the  third  day,  and 
the  importance  of  the  vegetable  kingdom, 
did  not  assign  to  it  a  special  day,  but  left 
it  in  the  age  of  matter,  is  not  less  full  of 
meaning. 

The  plant  is  not  yet  life,  but  the  bridge 
between  matter  and  life — the  link  between 
the  two  ages.  Placed  within  the  material 
age  of  creation,  it  is  the  harbinger  and 
promise  of  a  more  noble  and  better  time 
to  come.  It  is  the  root  of  the  living  tree 
planted  in  the  inorganic  globe,  and  des- 
tined to  nourish  in  the  age  of  life. 


XL 

FOURTH  COSMOGONIC  DAY. 

The  fourth  day  opens  the  era  of  life,  with  the  appear- 
ance of  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  in  the  heavens  visible 
from  the  earth  ;  a  work  which  apparently  still  belongs 
to  the  physical  order,  but  whose  object  is  to  benefit  life. 

Solae  Light. 

"  Let  luminaries  be  in  the  expanse  of  the  Heavens,  to 
give  light  upon  the  earth ;  and  to  separate  the  day 
from  the  night ;  and  for  seasons,  and  for  days,  and 
for  years." 

If  the  genesis  of  the  solar  system  as  ex- 
plained by  Laplace  is  true,  as  we  believe  it 
is,  the  sun  and  moon  were  not  then  created, 
but  they  existed  before,  and  now  enter  into 
new  relations  with  the  earth.  During  the 
age  of  matter,  the  intensity  of  chemical 
action  was  a  source  of  permanent  light — • 
the  earth   was  self-luminous,  the  light  of 


FOURTH    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  93 

the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  being  merged  in 
the  stronger  light  of  its  photosphere,  and 
therefore  invisible  to  it.  But  after  the  dis- 
appearance of  its  luminous  envelope,  our 
glorious  heavens,  with  sun,  moon,  and 
stars  become  visible,  and  the  earth  depends 
upon  this  outside  source  for  light  and  heat. 
Its  spherical  form  causes  the  unequal  dis- 
tribution of  both,  which  establishes  the 
differences  of  climate  from  the  pole  to  the 
equator.  Its  rotation  gives,  for  the  first 
time,  a  succession  of  day  and  night,  which 
breaks  the  permanent  light  of  the  preceding 
ages.  Its  revolution  round  the  sun  brings, 
in  their  turn,  the  seasons  and  the  years, 
Thus  are  prepared  the  physical  conditions 
necessary  to  the  existence  of  living  beings, 
the  periods  of  activity  and  rest,  of  summer 
and  wuater,  and  that  variety  of  tempera- 
ture ^nd  moisture  which  fosters  the  almost 
infinite  richness  of  the  organic  forms  of 
plants  and  animals  displayed  in  our  world 
of  life,     jf 

J 


94  CREATION. 

In  the  third  day  the  earth  was  ready 
for  life ;  in  the  fourth,  the  heavens  are 
ready  to  help  in  the  work.  The  fourth  day 
is,  as  it  were,  a  reminiscence  of  the  inor- 
ganic period,  and  forms  another  connection 
between  the  two  principal  stages  of  the 
globe. 


II 


<  2 


m 


XII. 

FIFTH  COSMOGONIC  DAY. 

Creation  of  the  Lower  Animals  in  the  Water  and  Air. 

' c  And  God  said,  Let  the  waters  teem  with  creeping  crea- 
tures, (swarm  with  swarmers, )  living  beings,  and  let 
birds  fly  over  the  earth  across  the  face  of  the  ex- 
panse of  the  heavens. 

"And  God  created  the  great  stretched  out  sea  mon- 
sters and  all  living  creatures  that  creep,  which  the 
waters  breed  abundantly  after  their  kind,  and  every 
winged  bird  after  its  kind,  and  God  saw  that  it  was 
good. 

"  And  God  blessed  them,  saying,  Be  fruitful  and 
multiply  and  fill  the  waters  in  the  seas,  and  let  the 
birds  multiply  on  the  earth.  And  evening  was,  and 
morning  was,  day  fifth." 

The  fifth  and  sixth  days  offer  no  difficul- 
ties, for  they  unfold  the  successive  crea- 
tion of  the  various  tribes  of  animals  which 
people  the  water,  the  air,  and  the  land,  in 
the  precise  order  indicated  by  geology. 

This   history  is  introduced  by  the  sol- 
emn word  bard,  which  occurs  here  for  the 


96  CREATION. 

second  time,  and  gives  us  to  understand 
that,  with  the  creation  of  the  animal,  an- 
other great  and  entirely  new  order  of  ex- 
istence begins. 

All  that  we  said  on  the  occasion  of  the 
introduction  of  vegetation,  as  the  lower 
realm  of  organized  nature,  applies  with 
double  force  to  the  animal.  The  plant, 
indeed,  as  we  have  remarked,  was  but 
a  preparation  for  the  appearance  of  the 
living  organized  being.  The  variety  of 
animal  forms  is  many  times  greater.  The 
principle  of  individuality  becomes  more 
intense  in  the  animal,  the  variety  of  or- 
gans and  of  organic  functions  is  greatly 
increased. 

Matter  is  in  the  animal,  but  controlled 
and  shaped  into  new  forms  foreign  to  its 
own  nature,  to  suit  the  wants  of  the  im- 
material being  within.  Vegetative  life  is 
in  it,  but  subservient  to  higher  functions, 
which  the  plant  could  never  perform  by 
itself.       A    conscious  perception    of    the 


FIFTH   COSMOGONIC    DAY.  97 

outer  world  by  sensation,  however,  and  a 
will  to  react  upon  it,  are  powers  which 
place  the  animal  on  a  higher  platform, 
and  make  it  a  being  which,  by  its  na- 
ture and  its  functions,  is  entirely  distinct 
from  the  lower  grades  of  existence. 

Here  the  important  question  which  we 
have  already  asked,  again  recurs :  Do  all 
these  phenomena  of  life,  so  different  from 
the  simple  work  of  the  inorganic  par- 
ticles of  matter,  take  place  without  the 
help  of  a  new  power,  of  an  immaterial 
nature,  for  which  matter  is  but  an  in- 
strument for  performing  these  higher  func- 
tions; or  are  they  merely  the  result  of 
a  new  combination  of  the  chemical  ele- 
ments, left  to  themselves?  In  other 
words  :  Can  life  proceed  from  non-living 
matter;  or  is  it  true  that  life  can  be 
evolved  only  from  the  living?  All  the 
more  recent,  careful  experiments  have  de- 
monstrated that  the  first  is  but  an  illusion ; 
life   alone  begets  life;    and  such  reliable 

7 


98  CREATION". 

observers  as  Pasteur,  Tyndall,  and  others, 
have  declared  the  spontaneous  generation 
an  untenable  hypothesis.  Even  the  most 
pronounced  materialists,  such  as  Haeckel, 
avow  that  science  has  not  yet  been  able 
to  evolve  life  out  of  dead  matter ;  but,  as 
the  latter  savant  naively  expresses  himself, 
"  it  must  be  so,  for  otherwise  we  should 
have  to  admit  a  miracle,"  which  for  him 
is  an  absurdity.  And  still  this  miracle 
did  occur,  for  the  introduction  of  a  new 
element  is  a  creation — that  is,  a  miracle 
• — and  so  the  Bible  says. 

Let  us  cast  a  glance  at  the  geological 
history  of  the  life  system,  such  as  present 
science  enables  us  to  read  it,  and  the  ad- 
mirable correctness  of  the  Mosaic  account 
will  be  evident. 

GEOLOGICAL    HISTOEY    OF    LIFE. 

Geology  informs  us  that  the  terrestrial 
crust,  down  to  its  lowest  attainable  depths, 
is  composed  of  layers   placed   upon  each 


FIFTH    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  99 

other,  different  in  mineralogical  character 
and  structure,  and  evidently  deposited  at 
the  bottom  of  the  ocean.  The  order 
of  their  superposition  furnishes  a  sure 
chronological  table  of  the  events  which 
took  place  during  their  formation;  the 
lowermost  stratum,  the  first  deposited,  be- 
ing the  oldest ;  the  surface  layers,  the  last 
formed,  being  the  most  recent. 

These  strata  preserve  in  their  folds  the 
archives  of  the  creation  of  organized  be- 
ings, living  at  the  time  of  their  deposition, 
whose  innumerable  remains  fill  their  rocky 
shelves  and  reveal  to  the  geologist  the 
order  of  appearance  of  the  various  tribes 
of  plants  and  animals,  thus  enabling  him 
to  reconstruct  the  history  of  the  life  sys- 
tem, through  all  its  gradual  changes,  from 
its  earliest  beginning  to  the  present  time. 

Five  great  ages  of  life  may  be  distin- 
guished, each  of  them  characterized  by 
the  predominance  of  a  certain  class  of 
animals,  and  marking  the  great  steps   of 


100  CREATION. 

gradual   progress   in   the    vast   system  of 
the  living  forms  of  the  past. 

These  are  preceded,  as  a  preface,  by  an 
age  of  protophytes  and  protozoans,  as  yet 
rather  vaguely  determined,  in  the  so-called 
azoic  or  archgean  rocks. 

1.  The  age  of  invertebrated  animals,  con- 
tained in  the  Silurian  series  of  rocks. 

2.  The  age  of  fishes,  in  the  Devonian 
series. 

3.  The  age  of  the  first  land  plants,  in 
the  Carboniferous  rocks. 

4.  The  age  of  the  reptiles,  in  the  Me- 
sozoic  rocks — triassic,  Jurassic,  and  creta- 
ceous. 

5.  The  age  of  the  mammals,  in  the  Ter- 
tiary rocks,  which  is  closed  by  the  age  of 
man,  in  the  Quaternary  or  present  age. 

The  Age  of  Protophytes  and  Protozoans. 

The  lowermost  strata  to  which  we  have 
access  are  the  so-called  Laurentian  of  Can- 
ada,   and  analogous   formations   in   other 


FIFTH    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  101 

continents.  These  rocks  of  great  thickness 
show  absolutely  no  traces  of  life  and  can 
really  be  considered  as  the  end  of  the 
azoic  age  of  the  globe.  But  just  above 
them  the  middle  Laurentians  contain 
carbon,  in  the  shape  of  graphite,  and 
masses  of  limestone,  both  of  which  indi- 
cate the  first  signs  of  vegetable  and  ani- 
mal life.  It  is  well  known  that  carbon, 
when  found  chemically  isolated,  denotes 
a  vegetable  process.  A  vast  quantity  of 
graphite  and  carbonaceous  matter,  found 
disseminated  in  the  most  ancient  layers, 
up  to  the  Cambrian,  seems  to  prove  the 
presence  in  the  waters  of  a  great  number 
of  protophytes  whose  delicate  forms  could 
not  be  preserved,  while  the  solid  sub- 
stance —  the  carbon  —  testifies  to  their 
former  existence. 

The  intercalated  limestones,  carefully  ex- 
amined under  the  microscope  by  Dr.  Daw- 
son, appeared  to  him  to  be  fossil  species  of 
monstrous  protozoans,  though  other  skil- 


102  CREATION". 

f ul  investigators  have  since  refused  to  rec- 
ognize an  animal  in  the  Eozoon  Canadense. 
It  must  be  confessed  that  this  would  be  a 
natural  beginning  of  the  life  system,  all  the 
more  that  the  limestone  deposits  are,  to  a 
great  extent,  in  later  ages,  the  result  of  the 
life  operations  of  most  minute  beings. 

The   Cambrian  and  Silurian  Age — Pri- 
mordial Fauna. 

If  there  is  still  some  doubt  as  to  the  ex- 
istence of  life  at  this  early  stage,  there  is 
none  in  regard  to  it  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Cambrian  and  the  Silurian  a^e.  Here 
we  find  ourselves  at  once  in  the  presence, 
not  of  doubtful  animal  forms,  but  of  a 
complete  fauna,  representing  the  three 
great  archetypes  of  invertebrated  animals, 
the  radiates,  mollusks,  and  the  articu- 
lates, with  all  their  various  subdivisions. 
They  do  not  appear  successively,  as  might 
be  expected,  in  the  order  of  their  perfec- 
tion, but  all  simultaneously,  on  the  same 


Plate  V 


Dipterus. 
DEVONIAN     AGE  — FISHES 


L 


FIFTH    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  103 

level,  the  mollusks  preserving   a   decided 
pre-eminence. 

During  untold  ages,  represented  by  suc- 
cessive deposits  of  rocks,  amounting  to 
over  twenty  thousand  feet  in  thickness, 
corals  and  plant-like  radiates,  mollusks  of 
all  grades — some  of  gigantic  size — num- 
berless crustaceans  of  embryonic  forms, 
swarm  in  the  tepid  waters  of  the  ocean ; 
but  no  fishes  are  found,  save  a  few  at  the 
very  end  of  this  long  period,  as  fore- 
runners of  the  higher  forms  which  are 
coming.  This  is  the  reijm  of  the  lower 
animal  life — the  involuntary  or  instinct  life 
— typified  by  the  invertebrates. 

Devonian  Age. 

The  Devonian  strata  contain  an  abun- 
dance of  remains  of  the  fish  tribe,  which 
is  added  to  the  riches  of  the  sea,  and 
takes  the  lead  among  the  tenants  of  the 
ocean ;  for,  though  the  lowest  grade  in  the 
archetype  of  vertebrates,  it  belongs  to  the 


104  CREATION. 

higher  level  of  animal  life,  with  brain,  in 
which  the  sensation  and  will  predominate. 
The  strange  forms  of  these  first  fishes, 
their  reptilian  character,  their  powerful 
organization,  make  them  the  scavengers 
and  the  kings  of  the  seas.  This  is  the 
reign  of  fishes. 

These  two  long  ages,  the  Silurian  and 
the  Devonian,  were  the  aquatic  age  of  the 
world.  The  whole  life  system  was  confined 
to  the  waters  of  the  ocean.  The  tempera- 
ture of  these  waters  and  the  physical  cir- 
cumstances which  characterized  them  must 
have  been  similar  in  all  continents,  for  the 
Silurian  and  Devonian  animals  show  a 
remarkable  resemblance  of  species  in  the 
most  widely  separated  regions  of  the  globe. 
Though  the  specific  forms  are  numerous, 
they  are  not  so  deeply  marked. 

The  same  aquatic  character  is  also  ob- 
served in  the  vegetation.  The  few  plants 
which  have  resisted  the  decomposition  are 
those  which  live   only  in  the  water,  and 


FIFTH    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  105 

nearly  all  belong,  like  the   algae,   to    the 

flowerless    thallogens,    whose    tissues   are 

composed   exclusively  of   vegetable    cells. 

In  the  Devonian,  plants  of  a  higher  grade, 

belonging    to    the    vascular    cryptogams, 

such  as  the  ferns,  are  added,  and  already 

proclaim  the  presence  of   land.     But  the 

triumphal  development  of  vegetation  takes 

place  in  the  following— the  Carboniferous 

—age,    in    which    the  superabundance    of 

plant  life  becomes  the  chief  characteristic. 

Carboniferous  Age. 

During  the  Devonian  age,  the  great  pre- 
dominance of  the  sandstone  formations 
indicated  the  shallowness  of  the  seas  in 
which  these  materials  of  the  decomposing 
rocks,  tossed  about  by  the  waves,  were  de- 
posited. 

In  the  Carboniferous  age  the  continents, 
which  were  slowly  growing  under  the 
water,  reach  the  surface.  These  vast  ex- 
panses  of   newly   emerged,  still   swampy, 


106  CREATION. 

lands  cover  themselves  with  a  mantle  of 
verdure.  In  the  warm  and  moist  atmos- 
phere, overcharged  with  carbonic  acid  gas, 
humble  cryptogams  attain  to  the  size  of 
stately  forest  trees,  and  luxuriant  ferns  and 
kindred  plants  provide  the  material  for  the 
vast  beds  of  coal  so  precious  to  civilized 
man.  This  is  also  an  a^e  of  slow  oscilla- 
tions  of  the  land.  The  swamp,  in  which 
were  decomposed  the  plants  which  form 
a  bed  of  coal,  was  slowly  submerged  and 
the  growth  of  the  forest  stopped.  New 
deposits  of  mud  and  sand  covered  that 
mass  of  vegetation,  under  which  it  was 
transformed  into  coal.  A  subsequent 
movement  raised  the  land  again  above 
the  water,  the  vegetative  process  begins 
anew  and  provides  materials  for  another 
forest  and  another  bed  of  coal.  This  pro- 
cess is  repeated  so  often  that  we  find  a  se- 
ries of  over  forty  similar  superposed  beds 
of  coal,  in  the  United  States ;  sixty,  in 
Nova  Scotia,  and  nearlv  one  hundred,  in 


FIFTH    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  107 

England.  When  we  reflect  that  it  has 
been  calculated  that  a  luxuriant  forest, 
like  that  of  the  valley  of  the  Amazon, 
\mt  under  water,  would  produce  only  half 
an  inch  of  coal,  we  can  form  an  idea  of 
the  length  of  a  geological  period,  imply- 
ing the  successive  growth  and  transfor- 
mation into  coal  of  hundreds  of  forests, 
adorning  the  ground  one  after  another, 
and  leaving  behind  them  beds  of  coal  of 
four,  eight,  and  twenty  feet  in  thickness. 

The  Carboniferous  age  was  pre-eminent- 
ly an  age  of  verdure.  Though  similar  coal 
beds  are  found  in  every  age,  geology  fails 
to  record,  before  or  after  this  remarkable 
period,  a  time  at  which  these  deposits  are 
at  once  so  extensive,  so  universal,  and 
quantitatively  so  abundant. 

But  in  that  immense  mass  of  vegetation, 
none  of  the  present  flowers,  with  vivid 
colors,  enlivened  the  landscape.  Seven- 
eighths  of  the  species  represented  were 
ferns,  either  in  the  form  of  luxuriant  foli- 


108  CREATION. 

age  or  in  the  shape  of  trees.  The  other 
trees,  like  the  stately  lepidodendron,  are 
gigantic  forms  of  the  j3uny  ground  pine  of 
the  present  day.  The  stout  sigillarias  with 
their  enormous  roots,  the  slender  calamites, 
resembling  the  cane-brakes,  were  the  princi- 
pal ornaments  of  these  dark,  moist  forests. 
All  these  belong,  like  the  ferns,  to  the  great 
vascular  cryptogams,  or  intermediate  forms. 
The  only  flowering  trees  were  a  small  num- 
ber of  gymnosperms,  or  of  the  pine  tribe, 
whose  inconspicuous  flowers  do  not  modify 
the  character  of  the  forests  but  which  her- 
ald a  higher  type  of  vegetation  to  come. 

We  see  here,  therefore,  the  first  grand 
display  of  a  land  vegetation,  the  form  of 
which,  however,  is  limited  to  the  class  of 
plants  whose  botanical  character  is  the 
predominance  of  foliage  over  every  other 
part  of  the  plant. 

This  age  of  verdure  extended  over  the 
whole  world ;  for  we  find  it  with  similar 
characteristics,  nay,  similar  specific  form, 


FIFTH    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  109 

in  all  the  continents,  though  there  is  no- 
where so  great  a  development  as  in  North 
America.  Coal  is  found  with  the  same 
species  of  plants  from  the  Arctic  regions, 
in  Spitzberg,  through  the  temperate  and 
tropical  zones,  to  South  America,  Africa, 
and  Australia.  Every  one  is  aware  of  the 
vast  importance  of  these  enormous  de- 
posits of  coal  for  human  industry,  upon 
which  depends  so  much  of  the  riches  of  all 
civilized  nations. 

But  the  coal  era  performed  also  an  im- 
portant function  in  favor  of  the  life  sys- 
tem, in  purifying  the  atmosphere  of  its 
excess  of  carbonic  acid  gas.  By  the  de- 
composition of  that  gas  by  the  living 
plants,  under  the  action  of  the  sun,  the 
carbon  was  fixed  in  the  coal  beds,  while 
the  oxygen  was  returned  to  the  atmos- 
phere, for  the  furtherance  of  animal  life. 
The  beneficial  influence  of  this  process  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  the  first  air-breath- 
ing animals,  such  as  insects  and  amphib- 


110  CREATION. 

ians,  begin  to  appear  only  in  and  toward 
the  end  of  that  period. 

The  progress  of  the  life  system  in  the 
Carboniferous  age  is  not  so  well  marked. 
A  few  small  amphibious  reptiles,  and  to- 
ward the  end  large  types,  of  a  mixed 
character  already  announce  that  the  great 
reptilian  age  is  at  hand. 

The  three  preceding  ages  together  make 
the  Palaeozoic  Era,  or  the  ancient  history 
of  the  life  system ;  for  it  can  be  fitly  called 
the  time  of  the  three  great  beginnings  : 

1.  The  vegetative  life  of  the  inverte- 
brates in  the  Silurian. 

2.  The  higher  life  of  the  brain  animals 
as  represented  by  the  fishes. 

3.  The  Carboniferous,  with  the  first  dis- 
play of  land  life. 

Now  opens 

The  Mesozoic  Age. 

In  the  Triassic,  of  this  age,  the  sand- 
stone formation,  indicating  a  considerable 


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I'A  Up 

III  : 

til 

FIFTH    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  Ill 

destruction  and  reconstruction,  with  a 
meagre  supply  of  fossils,  predominates. 

In  the  Jurassic  and  Cretaceous,  the  great 
abundance  of  limestone  formations  de- 
notes a  prevalence  of  lower  marine  life  ; 
the  very  rocks  are  formed  by  an  accumu- 
lation of  microscopic  protozoans.  The  de- 
velopment of  the  invertebrates,  and  par- 
ticularly of  the  mollusks,  attains  here  its 
highest  pitch,  in  the  number  and  beauty 
of  its  most  perfect  form,  the  cephalo- 
pods.  Ammonites,  remarkable  for  their 
great  size  and  their  elaborate  elegance 
and  variety,  and  innumerable  Belemnites, 
fill  the  Jurassic  and  the  Cretaceous  seas 
with  a  profusion  of  molluscan  life  which 
is  never  found  again,  to  that  degree,  in 
later  periods. 

This  is  again  the  time  of  the  formation 
and  growth  of  coral  reefs  and  coral  isl- 
ands, which  were  so  well  defined,  that  the 
geologists  of  the  Jura  gave  a  full  account 
of  their  structure,  before  Dana  and  Dar- 


112  CREATION. 

win  described  the  same  phenomena  as  ob- 
served by  them,  among  the  thousand  isl- 
ands which  stud  the  Pacific. 

But  by  far  the  most  important  feature 
of  this  age,  is  the  preponderance  and  va- 
riety of  reptilian  life. 

Gigantic  amphibians,  in  the  first  period, 
present  a  curious  mixture  of  the  charac- 
ters of  that  class  intermingled  with  those 
of  the  true  reptiles. 

The  Jurassic  seas  were  peopled  with  the 
long-necked  Plesiosaurs  and  the  stoutbuilt 
Ichthyosaurs,  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet 
long. 

In  the  great  central  sea,  which  was  then 
covering  the  plains  of  Kansas,  swam  a  va- 
riety of  reptiles,  some  of  which,  of  ser- 
pentine forms,  like  the  Elasmosaurus  and 
the  Edestosaurus,  attained  the  size  of  sixty 
to  eighty  feet  and  more ;  while  the  Atlantic 
coast  was  tenanted  by  numerous  species  of 
massive  Mosasaurs. 

Land   reptiles    were   equally   abundant 


FIFTH    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  113  ^ 

and  notable  in  size.  Besides  the  crocodile 
and  the  lizard-like  Iguanodon,  the  Meg- 
alosaur  and  many  others,  the  family  of 
the  Dinosaurs  deserves  a  special  mention. 
Their  bird-like  affinities  of  structure,  the 
disproportion  of  their  anterior  legs  to  their 
hind  limbs,  whose  length  and  strength  al- 
lowed them  to  take  an  upright  position 
which  gave  them  a  kangaroo-like  appear- 
ance, make  them  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able families  of  this  age  of  reptiles. 

This  family  contained  also  the  largest 
types  of  land  animals  that  have  ever  ex- 
isted. The  Hadrosaurus  of  New  Jersey 
stood  erect,  from  twenty  to  twenty-five 
feet  high.  The  Atlantosaurus  of  Colo- 
rado reached  the  height  of  from  sixty  to 
eighty  feet,  so  that  it  would  be  difficult 
to  understand  how  the  strength  of  its 
muscles  could  have  supported  the  weight 
of  its  bones,  if  it  was  not  that  the  latter 
had  been  found  hollow,  like  those  of  the 
birds. 


114  CREATION. 

The  atmosphere  also  was  replete  with 
reptilian  life.  There  were  bat-like  ani- 
mals with  enormous  heads  and  membran- 
ous wings — the  Pterodactyls — of  all  di- 
mensions, from  our  ordinary  bats  to  mon- 
strous species  whose  expanded  wings 
measured  twenty-five  feet  from  tip  to  tip. 
Contemporaneously  with  them,  a  wonder- 
ful family  of  birds,  with  teeth  and  rep- 
tilian characters,  prepared  the  transition 
to  the  true  birds,  which  made  their  appear- 
ance, in  small  numbers,  at  a  later  time. 

A  last  feature  of  the  Mesozoic  a^e  must 
be  noted.  The  forest  trees  of  the  Triassic 
and  Jurassic  periods  were  essentially  made 
up  of  Calamites,  colossal  Horsetails,  and  a 
majority  of  Gymnosperms ;  that  is  Pines, 
Cycads,  and  other  Conifers. 

With  the  Cretaceous  period,  the  char- 
acter of  the  vegetation  changes.  The 
classes  of  the  Monocotyledons  and  the  Di- 
cotyledons show  themselves  in  profusion. 
The  oak,    the   maple,    the   sassafras,    etc., 


FIFTH   COSMOGONIC    DAY.  115 

which  constitute  the  bulk  of  our  pres- 
ent forests,  are  found  in  abundance  in  the 
temperate  regions,  and  palm  trees  in  the 
warmer  latitudes.  The  scenery  assumes 
altogether  the  modern  aspect  which  it 
still  retains. 

No  two  ages  in  the  history  of  the  life 
system  present  a  more  striking  contrast 
than  this  age  of  the  mastery  of  reptiles, 
and  the  Neozoic,  or  Tertiary,  which  fol- 
lows. These  huge  reptiles,  which  filled 
the  water,  the  land,  and  the  atmosphere, 
suddenly  disappear  after  the  Cretaceous. 
While  the  vegetation  of  the  landscape  re- 
mains very  much  the  same,  a  new  class 
of  animals,  the  mammals,  the  typical  and 
the  highest  of  the  vertebrates,  at  once 
take  their  place  on  the  globe.  During  the 
three  periods  which  succeed  each  other 
in  that  age — the  Eocene,  the  Miocene,  and 
the  Pliocene — the  various  types  are  gradu- 
ally developed ;  in  the  Eocene,  mostly 
mixed  types,  which  are  afterwards  special- 


116  CEEATION. 

ized ;  in  the  Miocene,  the  great  pachy- 
derms, the  Mammoth  and  the  closely  allied 
Mastodon,  the  group  of  the  Herbivores, 
and  Frugivores,  including  the  monkeys ; 
in  the  Pliocene,  are  added  a  large  number 
of  Carnivorous  animals,  which  become 
characteristic  of  this  period. 

Last  of  all  man  appears,  uniting  in  him- 
self all  the  perfections  of  the  animal  king- 
dom, and  with  him  a  higher  plane  of  life, 
which  begins  the  moral  world. 

These  facts  speak  a  strong  language. 
They  tell  us  that  creation  is  a  reality. 
Besides  the  primordial  creation  of  matter, 
that  few  will  deny,  the  creation  of  life 
must  be  acknowledged,  since,  as  we  have 
seen,  science  has  thus  far  been  unable 
to  derive  it  from  dead  matter  by  any  pro- 
cess whatever.  Scientific  inquiries  are  far 
from  having  demonstrated  that  all  the  ar- 
chetypes of  the  invertebrates  which  ap- 
pear simultaneously  in  the  Silurian,  are 
derived  from  one  another.     Science  fails  to 


FIFTH    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  117 

discover  traces  of  a  direct  descent  of  the 
vertebrate  from  the  invertebrate,  whose 
plan  of  structure  is  entirely  unlike ;  of 
the  large  fishes  of  the  Devonian  from 
any  preceding  animal  form ;  of  the  huge 
reptiles  of  the  middle  ages  of  life  from 
the  fishes  of  the  Devonian.  It  cannot  be 
proved  that  the  great  pachyderms,  which 
suddenly  come  upon  the  stage  in  the  ter- 
tiary epoch,  are  the  offspring  of  the  rep- 
tiles of  the  preceding  age.  The  bond 
which  unites  them  is  of  an  immaterial 
nature ;  the  marvellous  unity  of  plan 
which  we  observe  is  in  the  mind  of  the 
Creator.  We  should  then  acknowledge  a 
plan,  admirable  in  conception,  perfect  in 
execution.  There  is  a  tvisdom  which  de- 
vises, a  free  ivill,  and  a  power  which  exe- 
cutes and  creates  in  succession,  at  the  ap- 
pointed time,  when  it  is  fitting,  and  not  a 
single  great  unconscious  whole  developing 
by  itself. 

To  say  more  for  the  present  is  to  go  be- 


118  CREATION. 

yond  the  facts  as  we  know  them.  Whether 
the  further  progress  of  embryology  will 
force  us  to  modify  these  views  remains  for 
the  future  to  say. 

In  the  order  of  time  there  is  progress. 
The  inferior  being  always  precedes  the  su- 
perior ;  the  imperfect  the  perfect.  Inor- 
ganic nature  precedes  organization.  The 
watery  element  reigns  before  the  terres- 
trial ;  the  aquatic  and  inferior  animals  be- 
fore the  terrestrial  and  superior.  In  the 
series  of  the  vertebrated  animals,  we  see 
fishes,  reptiles,  birds,  and  mammifers  ap- 
pearing in  the  ages  of  the  globe  in  the 
order  of  their  perfection. 

Whether  or  not  we  view  this  order  as  the 
result  of  evolution,  God's  guiding  hand 
must  be  discerned,  without  which  nature 
alone  could  not  have  produced  it. 

The  accordance  of  these  facts  of  geol- 
ogy with  the  Mosaic  account  is  so  evident 
that  no  further  explanation  is  necessary. 

It  is,  perhaps,  here  the   place  to   note 


FIFTH    COSMOGOISTIC    DAY.  119 

the  wonderful  accuracy  with  which  Moses 
gives,  in  a  few  words,  the  characteristics 
of  the  groups  of  animals  which  he  men- 
tions. It  would  be  difficult  better  to  de- 
signate than  as  "  swarmers,  living  beings," 
the  prodigious  quantity  of  small  medusae 
and  marine  animalculse  which  are  every 
day  produced  and  swallowed  by  the  mil- 
lions, as  the  food  of  the  monstrous  whales. 
And  again,  no  name  could  be  better  applied 
to  the  great  reptiles  of  the  Mesozoic  age 
that  he  describes,  than  the  word  tanni- 
nim,  or  great  stretched  out  sea  monsters, 
by  which  they  are  indicated  in  the  text. 

In  the  Tertiary  the  herbivorous  animals, 
domesticated  by  man,  are  named  cattle ; 
while  the  others,  including  the  carnivo- 
rous, are  called  the  wild  beasts,  and  the 
smaller  ones,  the  creeping  things. 


XIII. 

SIXTH  C0SM0G0NIC  DAT. 

The  sixth  day,  which  is  the  third  of  the  era  of  life, 
contains  two  works,  as  did  the  third  day  of  the  era  of 
matter :  a.  The  creation  of  the  higher  animals,  espe- 
cially those  living  on  the  dry  land,  corresponding  with 
the  Tertiary  age.  b.  The  creation  of  man  in  the  Qua- 
ternary age. 

a.  Higheb  Animals.     Mammalia. 

"  And  God  made  the  beasts  of  the  earth  after  their  kind, 
and  the  cattle  after  their  kind,  and  every  creeping 
thing  of  the  ground  after  its  kind,  and  God  saw 
that  it  was  good." 

For  this  creation  the  word  made  is  used 
instead  of  create,  for  it  is  not  the  first  in- 
troduction, but  the  continuation  of  the  life 
system. 

The  creeping  animals  of  the  sixth  day- 
are  not  reptiles,  but,  according  to  Gesen- 


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SIXTH    COSMOGONIC    DAY.  121 

ius    the    smaller    mammalia — rats,    mice, 
etc. 

The  greatest  changes  in  the  mineral 
and  organic  creation,  according  to  geol- 
ogy, took  place  between  the  cretaceous  and 
tertiary  epochs.  And  there,  also,  Moses 
places  the  beginning  of  a  new  day.  For 
not  only  are  the  land  animals  a  new  set  of 
beings,  they  are  also  the  highest,  and  the 
family  to  which  man  belongs  as  a  member 
of  the  life  system  of  nature. 


XIV. 

SIXTH  COSMOGONIC  DAY  CONTINUED. 

b.  Creation  of  Man. 

"And  God  created  man  in  his  image,  in  the  image  of 
God  created  he  him,  male  and  female  created  he 
them." 

The  second  work  of  the  sixth  day  is  of  a 
vastly  different  nature  from  the  first. 

The  animal  kingdom,  as  such  and  in 
itself,  is  finished;  but  between  this  plane 
and  the  new  sphere  which  is  coming  a  link 
is  necessary,  and  this  link  to  a  more  ex- 
alted grade  of  life  is  man. 

The  creation  of  man  is  a  fact  of  such 
great  importance  that  it  could  not  be  men- 
tioned otherwise  than  separately.  Here 
again,  and  for  the  third  time,  the  word  bard 
announces,  not  a  simple  continuation  of 
the  animal,  but  the  creation  of  still  another 


SIXTH  C0SM0G0NIC  DAY  CONTINUED.     123 

order  of  existence,  the  most  exalted  of  all. 
Three  times,  as  if  to  emphasize  the  event, 
the  potent  word  is  repeated. 

Man,  made  by  the  Creator  in  his  own 
image,  and  upon  whose  creation  Moses  puts 
so  much  stress,  to  enforce,  as  it  were,  the 
idea  of  his  dignity,  could  not  be  con- 
founded with  the  animals.  With  his  ad- 
vent a  still  higher  plane  is  introduced 
which  comprises  not  only  animal  but 
spiritual  life,  which  has  its  own  laws,  its 
own  character,  and  for  which  the  body  is 
but  an  instrument — an  instrument  that  in 
its  service  is  called  upon  to  perform  much 
higher  functions  than  the  simple  physio- 
logical ones. 

That  spiritual  element,  which  constitutes 
man  as  a  distinct  creation,  can  no  more  be 
derived  from  the  physiological  functions 
of  the  animal  than  life  can  be  evolved 
from  dead  matter.  There  is  between  the 
two  planes  an  impassable  abyss.  The  in- 
visible  world,  the  world  of  ideas,  which 


124  CREATION. 

contains  the  roots  of  all  existence,  is  ab- 
solutely shut  up  from  the  animal,  for  he 
has  no  power  to  perceive  it.  All  his 
knowledge  comes  to  him  through  his  bodily 
senses,  which  are  confined  to  the  use  of 
his  bodily  wants,  and,  directed  and  limited 
by  instinct,  do  not  extend  in  any  way  to 
the  region  of  the  unseen.  The  animal, 
therefore,  incapable  of  knowing  God,  is 
not  a  responsible  moral  agent.  He  is  still 
under  the  law  of  nature,  that  is  of  in- 
stinct or  necessity,  while  man,  possessed 
of  a  knowledge  of  God,  is  under  the  law 
of  liberty  and  thus  becomes  a  responsible, 
or  in  other  words,  a  moral  being. 

We  often  hear  of  palaeontologists  look- 
ing sedulously  for  the  missing  link  between 
man  and  the  animal.  They  forget  that  in 
the  sense  of  which  they  speak,  there  can 
be  no  link  wanting.  The  figure  and  the 
structure  of  the  ape  is  as  near  as  need 
be,  to  be  called  a  link  between  man  and 
the   animal ;    the   difference   between   the 


SIXTH  COSMOGONIC  DAY  CONTINUED.     125 

two  beings  is  not  in  the  shape  of  a 
thumb  or  of  any  particular  bodily  organ, 
but  in  the  moral  nature.  An  animal,  as 
beautiful  in  form  as  Apollo  Belvidere,  but 
not  possessed  of  the  sense  of  the  invisible, 
would  still  be  an  animal  and  nothing 
more.  A  poor  misshapen  Hottentot,  en- 
dowed with  these  spiritual  faculties,  ren- 
dering him  capable  of  becoming  a  living 
member  of  the  spiritual  world,  through 
faith  in  Christ,  would  still  be  a  man,  be- 
longing to  that  upper  plane  of  life,  and 
bound  to  his  Maker  by  ties  of  love  and 
adoration. 

The  invisible  world  of  ideas  is  the  true 
domain  of  man,  the  scene  of  his  activity. 
For  this  reason,  language  has  been  vouch- 
safed to  him,  while  it  is  denied  to  the 
animal,  whose  functions  are  limited  to  the 
procuring  of  food,  to  self-defense  and  to 
reproduction.  Even  the  powers  of  the 
monkey  are  thus  restricted.  Hence  the 
unlimited  capacity  for   progress    in   man, 


126  CREATION. 

and  the  completely  stationary  condition  in 
the  monkey  tribe  and  in  all  animals,  are 
easily  explained.  Nature  has  separated  the 
two  orders  by  immutable  laws. 

Any  length  of  time  that  Darwin  might 
desire  for  his  transformations,  would  never 
suffice  to  make  of  the  monkey  a  civilizable 
man. 

The  new  element,  therefore,  which  is 
infused  into  man,  at  his  creation,  is  the 
religious  element,  or  the  capacity  of  being 
associated,  in  God's  service,  with  God's 
life  and  God's  perfections. 

But  why  does  Moses  place  this  creation, 
not  in  a  separate  day,  but  with  the  mam- 
malia in  the  sixth  day  ? 

Man  is  the  crowning  act  of  the  Creator. 
He  is  the  summary  of  all  the  perfections 
scattered  through  the  animal  kingdom,  of 
which  he  is  the  head.  He  is  the  end 
and  aim  of  the  whole  development  of  our 
planet,  and  as  such  belongs  to  our  physical 
earth. 


SIXTH  COSMOGONIC  DAY  CONTINUED.     127 

But  he  is  also  a  being  of  a  new  and 
superior  order,  and  therefore  must  be  kept 
distinct.  The  appearance  of  the  physical 
man  is  the  prophecy  and  the  promise  of 
a  future  and  more  perfect  age  of  develop- 
ment which  begins  with  him — the  age  of 
moral  freedom  and  responsibility — that  of 
the  historical  world. 

This  second  work  of  the  sixth  day  is 
thus  the  link  between  the  age  of  the  phy- 
sical creation  and  that  of  the  moral  de- 
velopment of  mankind,  as  the  plant  was 
the  link  between  the  material  world  and 
that  of  life.  It  is  the  moral  world 
planted  in  the  material  world,  in  order  to 
make  the  latter  subservient  to  a  higher 
and  better  aim. 

Before  we  leave  this  grand  history  of 
the  creation  let  us  offer  a  few  remarks  on 
the  relation  that  it  holds  to  evolution,  the 
favorite  doctrine  of  the  day. 

Though  the  narrative  is,  on  the  whole, 
singularly  non-committal,  in  regard  to  any 


128  CREATION. 

specific  scientific  doctrine,  there  are  a  few 
points  on  which  it  is  positive.  It  teaches 
that : 

1.  The  primordial  creation  of  matter,  the 
creation  of  the  system  of  life,  and  the  crea- 
tion of  man,  are  three  distinct  creations. 

2.  They  are  not  simultaneous  but  suc- 
cessive. 

3.  God's  action  in  the  creation  is  constant. 
As  we  have  already  observed,  each  of 

these  great  orders  of  things  is  introduced 
by  the  word  ba?'d,  so  that  Moses  seemed  to 
distinguish  the  three  great  groups  of  phe- 
nomena as  distinct  in  essence.  According 
to  this,  the  evolution  from  one  of  these 
orders  into  the  other — from  matter  into 
life,  from  animal  life  into  the  spiritual  life 
of  man — is  impossible. 

The  question  of  evolution  within  each  of 
these  great  systems — of  matter  into  vari- 
ous forms  of  matter,  of  life  into  the  va- 
rious forms  of  life,  and  of  mankind  into 
all  its  varieties — remains  still  open. 


SIXTH  COSMOGONIC  DAY  CONTINUED.      129 

The  relation  of  these  three  worlds  is  no 
less  remarkable.  Matter — the  lowest  or- 
der— is  a  general  substratum  for  all  the 
others.  Aided  and  fashioned  by  the  prin- 
ciple of  life  it  performs  higher  functions 
in  the  plant  and  animal.  Matter,  plant 
life,  and  animal  life  perform  higher  intel- 
lectual and  moral  functions,  under  the 
guidance  of  the  human  soul. 

Every  one  of  the  lower  powers,  associ- 
ated with  a  higher  element,  becomes  in- 
strumental ;  the  higher  as  a  cause,  the 
lower  as  a  condition  of  existence,  or  as  an 
instrument,  both  co-operating  to  a  com- 
mon progress. 

But  after  each  of  these  factors  has  per- 
formed its  part,  something  yet  remains  to 
be  explained.  The  result,  varied  as  it 
may  be,  is  never  arbitrary  confusion,  but 
order  and  beauty.;  and  this  shows  the 
constant  and  indispensable  supervision  of 
God  over  his  work. 

9 


130  CEEATION. 

Here  end  the  working  days  of  the  Cre- 
ator. All  his  other  works  God  had  de- 
clared to  be  good ;  but  on  the  sixth  day 
tl  God  saiv  every  thing  that  he  had  made, 
and,  behold,  it  was  very  good." 

The  work  of  the  whole  week  is  now 
finished,  and  perfect  as  God  will  have  it 
for  his  purpose — his  own  glory  and  the 
education  of  man. 


XV. 

THE  SEVENTH  DAY.  THE  SABBATH  OF  CREATION. 

"Thus  the  heavens  were  finished,  and  the  earth,  and  all 
the  host  of  them. 

And  on  the  seventh  day  God  ended  his  work 
which  he  had  made  and  rested  on  the  seventh  day 
from  all  the  work  which  he  had  made. 

And  God  blessed  the  seventh  day  and  hallowed 
it,  for  in  it  he  rested  from  all  his  work  which  God 
had  created  and  made." 

Now  begins  the  seventh  day,  the  day  of 
rest,  or  the  Sabbath  of  the  earth,  when  the 
globe  and  its  inhabitants  are  completed. 

Since  the  beginning  of  this  day  no  new 
creation,  has  taken  place.  God  rests  as 
the  Creator  of  the  visible  universe.  The 
forces  of  nature  are  in  that  admirable 
equilibrium  which  Ave  now  behold,  and 
which  is  necessary  to  our  existence.  No 
more  mountains  or  continents  are  formed, 


132  CREATION. 

no  new  species  of  plants  or  animals  are 
created.  Nature  goes  on  steadily  in  its 
wonted  path.  All  movement,  all  progress 
has  passed  into  the  realm  of  mankind, 
which  is  now  accomplishing  its  task. 

The  seventh  day  is,  then,  the  present  age 
of  our  globe ;  the  age  in  which  we  live, 
and  which  was  prepared  for  the  develop- 
ment of  mankind.  The  narrative  of  Moses 
seems  to  indicate  this  fact ;  for  at  the  end 
of  each  of  the  six  working  days  of  creation 
we  find  an  evening.  But  the  morning  of 
the  seventh  is  not  followed  by  any  even- 
ing. The  day  is  still  open.  When  the 
evening  shall  come  the  last  hour  of  hu- 
manity will  strike. 

This  view  of  the  Sabbath  of  creation 
has  been  objected  to,  on  account  of  the 
form  of  the  command  in  the  Decalogue, 
relating  to  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath. 
But  those  who  object,  confound  God's 
Sabbath  with  man's  Sabbath,  and  forget 
the  words  of  Christ,  that  our  Sabbath  was 


THE    SEVENTH    DAT.  133 

made  for  man,  who  needs  it,  and  not  for 
God.  God  rests  as  a  Creator  of  the  ma- 
terial world  only  to  become  active,  nay, 
Creator  in  the  spiritual  world.  His  Sab- 
bath work  is  one  of  love  to  man — the  re- 
demption. His  creation  is  that  of  the 
new  man,  born  anew  of  the  Spirit,  in  the 
heart  of  the  natural  man.  So  man  is 
commanded  to  imitate  God  in  leaving 
once  in  seven  days  the  work  of  this 
material  world,  to  turn  all  his  attention 
and  devote  his  powers  to  the  things  of 
heaven. 

There  are,  therefore,  three  Sabbaths  : 

1.  God's  Sabbath,  after  the  material 
creation. 

2.  The  Sabbath  of  humanity,  the  prom- 
ised millennium,  after  the  toil  and  struggle 
of  the  six  working  days  of  history. 

3.  The  Sabbath  of  the  individual,  short- 
lived man,  the  day  of  rest  of  twenty- 
four  hours,  made  for  him  according  to 
his  measure. 


134  CREATION. 

The  length  of  the  day  in  each,  is  of  no 
account.  The  plan,  in  all,  is  the  same,  and 
contains  the  same  idea — six  days  of  work 
and  struggle  in  the  material  world,  followed 
by  a  day  of  peace,  of  rest  from  the  daily 
toil,  and  of  activity  in  the  higher  world  of 
the  spirit.  For  the  Sabbath  is  not  only  a 
day  of  rest,  it  is  the  day  of  the  Lord. 

The  following  tableau,  summing  up  the 
results  of  the  preceding  discussion,  may  be 
found  of  service  in  making  clear  the  cor- 
respondence  between  the  record  of  Moses 
and  that  of  science. 

Whatever  be  the  opinion  which  we  may 
entertain  as  to  the  correctness  of  the  his- 
tory of  the  creation  of  the  universe  and 
the  earth,  such  as  the  present  results  of  in- 
ductive science  can  furnish,  we  may  affirm 
that  the  best  explanation  science  is  now 
able  to  give,  on  this  great  topic,  is  also  that 
which  best  explains,  in  all  its  details,  the 
first  chapter  of  Genesis,  and  does  it  justice. 


XVI. 


CONCLUSIONS. 


Such  is  the  grand  cosmogonic  week  de 
scribed  by  Moses.  To  a  sincere  and  un- 
prejudiced mind  it  must  be  evident  that 
these  great  outlines  are  the  same  as  those 
which  modern  science  enables  us  to  trace, 
however  imperfect  and  unsettled  the  data 
afforded  by  scientific  researches  may  ap- 
pear on  many  points. 

Whatever  modifications  in  our  present 
view  of  the  development  of  the  universe 
and  the  globe  may  be  expected  from  new 
discoveries,  the  prominent  features  of  this 
vast  picture  will  remain,  and  these  only 
are  delineated  in  this  admirable  account 
of  Genesis* 

These    outlines   were   sufficient   for  the 


136  CREATION. 

moral  purposes  of  the  book ;  the  scientific 
details  are  for  us  patiently  to  investigate. 
They  were,  no  doubt,  unknown  to  Moses ; 
as  the  details  of  the  life  and  of  the  work 
of  the  Saviour  were  unknown  to  the  great 
prophets,  who  announced  his  coming  and 
traced  out  with  master  hand  his  character 
and  mission,  centuries  before  his  appear- 
ance on  the  earth. 

But  the  same  divine  hand  which  lifted, 
for  Daniel  and  Isaiah,  the  veil  which 
covered  the  tableau  of  the  time  to  come, 
unveiled  to  the  eyes  of  the  author  of 
Genesis,  by  a  series  of  graphic  visions  and 
pictures,  the  earliest  ages  of  the  creation. 
Thus  Moses  was  the  prophet  of  the  past, 
as  Daniel  and  Isaiah  and  many  others 
were  the  prophets  of  the  future. 


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THE  BEGINNINGS  OFHISTOR\ 

According  to  the  Bible  and  the  Traditions  of  the  Oriental  Peoples.  From 
the  Creation  of  Man  to  the  Deluge.  By  Francois  Lenormant, 
Professor  of  Archaeology  at  the  National  Library  of  France,  etc. 
(Translated  from  the  Second  French  Edition).  With  an  introduction 
by  Francis  Brown,  Associate  Professor  in  Biblical  Philology, 
Union  Theological  Seminary. 


1  Vol.,  12mOn   600  pages,         -  $2.Z0. 


"  What  should  we  see  in  the  first  chapters  of  Genesis  ?  "  writes  M.  Lenor- 
mant in  his  preface — "A  revealed  narrative,  or  a  human  tradition,  gathered 
up  for  preservation  by  inspired  writers  as  the  oldest  memory  of  their  race  ? 
This  is  the  problem  which  I  have  been  led  to  examine  by  comparing  the  nar- 
rative of  the  Bibl j  with  those  which  were  current  among  the  civilized  peo- 
ples of  most  ancient  origin  by  which  Israel  was  surrounded,  and  from  the 
midst  of  which  it  came." 

The  book  is  not  more  erudite  than  it  is  absorbing  in  its  interest.  It  has 
bad  an  immense  influence  upon  contemporary  thought  ;  and  has  approached 
its  task  with  a::  unusual  mingling  of  the  reverent  and  the  scientific  spirit. 


11  That  the  '  Oriental  Peoples '  had  legends  on  the  Creation,  the  Fall  of  Man,  the 
Deluge,  and  other  primitive  events,  there  is  no  denying.  Nor  is  there  any  need  oi 
denying  it,  as  this  admirable  volume  shows.  Mr.  Lenormant  is  not  only  a  believer 
in  revelation,  but  a  devout  confessor  of  what  came  by  Moses  ;  as  well  as  of  what  came 
by  Christ.  In  this  explanation  of  Chaldean,  Babylonian,  Assyrian  and  Phenician 
tradition,  he  discloses  a  prodigality  of  thought  and  skill  allied  to  great  variety  of  pur- 
suit, and  diligent  manipulation  of  what  he  has  secured.  He  'spoils  the  Egyptians' 
by  boldly  using  for  Christian  purposes  materials,  which,  if  left  unused,  might  be 
turned  against  the  credibility  of  the  Mosaic  records. 

"  From  the  mass  of  tradition  here  examined  it  would  seem  that  if  these  ancient 
legends  have  a  common  basis  of  truth,  the  first  part  of  Genesis  stands  more  generally 
related  to  the  religious  history  of  mankind,  than  if  it  is  taken  primarily  as  one  account, 
by  one  man,  to  one  people.  .  .  .  While  not  claiming  for  the  author  the 
setting  forth  of  the  absolute  truth,  nor  the  drawing  from  what  he  has  set  forth  the 
soundest  conclusions,  we  can  assure  our  readers  of  a  diminishing  fear  of  learned  un- 
belief after  the  perusal  of  this  work." — The  Neiv  Engiander. 

M  With  reference  to  the  book  as  a  whole  it  may  be  said  :  (i).  That  nowhere  else  can 
one  obtain  the  mass  of  information  upon  this  subject  in  so  convenient  a  form;  (2).  That 
the  investigation  is  conducted  in  a  truly  scientific  manner,  and  with  an  eminently 
Christian  spirit  ;  (3).  That  the  results,  though  very  different  from  those  in  common 
acceptance,  contain  much  that  is  interesting  and  to  say  the  least,  plausible  ;  (4).  That 
the  author  while  he  seems  in  a  number  of  cases  to  be  injudicious  in  his  state- 
ments and  conclusions,  has  done  work  in  investigation  and  in  working  out  details  that 
will  be  of  service  to  all,  whether  general  readers  or  specialists."— The  Hebrew 
Student. 

'■  The  work  is  one  that  deserves  to  be  studied  by  all  students  of  ancient  history,  and 
fn  particular  by  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  whose  office  requires  them  to  interpret  the 
Scriptures,  and  who  ought  not  to  be  ignorant  of  the  latest  and  most  interesting  con- 
tribution of  science  to  the  elucidation  to  the  sacred  volume." — New  York  Tribune. 


*#*  For  Sale  by  all  booksellers,  or  sent,  post-paid,  upon  receipt  of  price% 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS,   Publishers, 

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Final  Causes. 

IB;y-      PAUL       JAITET. 

MEMBER    OF   THE    FRENCH    ACADEMY. 

Translated  from  the  Second  French  Edition.      With  a  Preface  by 
Robert  Flint,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


One    Vol.    8vo.,        -  Price,    $2.50 


11  Here  is  a  book  to  which  we  give  the  heartiest  welcome  and  the  study  of 
which — not  reading  merely — we  commend  to  all  who  are  seeking  to  solve  the  question 
whether  the  universe  is  the  product  of  mind  or  of  chance.  .  .  .  Perhaps  no  living 
author  has  been  more  thoroughly  trained  by  previous  studies  for  the  work  done  here 
than  Mr.  Janet;  and  no  one  is  better  fitted  for  it  by  original  gifts." — Universalist 
Quarterly. 

"  I  regard  'Janet's  Final  Causes'  as  incomparably  the  best  thing  in  litera- 
ture on  the  subject  of  which  it  treats,  and  that  it  ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of  every 
man  who  has  any  interest  in  the  present  phases  of  the  theistic  problem.  I  am  very 
glad  that  you  have  brought  out  an  edition  for  the  American  public  and  at  a  price 
that  makes  the  work  acceptable  to  ministers  and  students.  I  have  commended  it  to 
my  classes  in  the  seminary,  and  make  constant  use  of  it  in  my  instructions." — From 
a  letter  of  Professor  Francis  L.  Patton,  D.  D. 

"  I  am  delighted  that  you  have  published  the  translation  of  Janet's  '  Final 
Causes '  in  an  improved  form  and  at  a  price  which  brings  it  within  the  reach  of  many 
who  desire  to  possess  it.  It  is  in  my  opinion  the  most  suggestive  treatise  on  this  im- 
portant topic  which  is  accessible  in  our  language,  and  is  admirably  fitted  to  meet 
many  of  the  misleading  and  superficial  tendencies  of  the  philosophy  of  a  popular 
but  superficial  school." — Extract  from  a  letter  of  Noah  Porter,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
President  of  Yale   College. 

"  The  most  powerful  argument  that  has  yet  appeared  against  the  unwar- 
ranted conclusions  which  Haeckel  and  others  would  draw  from  the  Darwinian 
Theory.  That  teleology  and  evolution  are  not  mutually  exclusive  theories,  M. 
Janet  has  demonstrated  with  a  vigor  and  keenness  that  admit  of  no  reply." — The 
Examiner. 

"  No  book  of  greater  importance  in  the  realm  of  theological  philosophy  has 
appeared  during  the  past  twenty  years  than  Paul  Janet's  '  Final  Causes.'  The 
central  idea  of  the  work  is  one  which  the  whole  course  of  scientific  discussion  has 
made  the  burning  question  of  the  day,  viz :  That  final  causes  are  not  inconsistent 
with  physical  causation." — Independent. 


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The  Conflicts  of  the  slge. 


One  Vol.,  8vo,       -       Paper,  50  Cts.  ;   Cloth,  75  Cts. 


The  four   articles   which   make   up  this   little   volume  are* 

(1)  An  Advertisement  for  a  New  Religion.     By  an  Evolutionist. 

(2)  The  Confession  of  an  Agnostic.     By   an   Agnostic. 

(3)  What  Morality  have  we  left  ?     By  a  New-Light  Moralist. 

(4)  Review    of  the    Fight.       By   a   Yankee    Farmer. 

The  secret  of  its  authorship  has  not   yet   transpired,  and  the  reviewers 
seem  badly  puzzled  in  their  attempts  to  solve  the  mystery. 


CRITICAL     NOTICES. 

"  Nowhere  can  an  ordinary  reader  see  in  a  more  simple  and  pleasing  form  the 
absurdities  which  lie  in  the  modern  speculations  about  truth  and  duty.  We  have  no  key 
to  the  authorship,  but  the  writer  evidently  holds  a  practiced  pen,  and  knows  how  to  give 
that  air  of  persiflage  in  treating  of  serious  subjects  which  sometimes  is  more  effective 
than  the  most  cogent  dialectic.''  —  Christian  Intelligencer. 

"Tt  is  the  keenest,  best  sustained  exposure  of  the  weaknesses  inherent  in  certain 
schools  of  modern  thought,  which  we  have  yet  come  across,  and  is  couched  in  a  vein  of 
fine  satire,  making  it  exceedingly  readable.  For  an  insight  into  the  systems  it  touches 
upon,  and  for  its  suggestions  01  methods  of  meeting  them,  it  is  capable  of  being  a  great 
help  to  the  clergy.  It  is  a  new  departure  in  apologetics,  quite  in  the  spirit  of  the  time." — 
The  Living  Church. 

"The  writer  has  chosen  to  appear  anonymously;  but  he  holds  a  pen  keen  as  a 
Damascus  blade.  Indeed,  there  are  few  men  living  capable  of  writing  these  papers, 
and  of  dissecting  so  thoroughly  the  popular  conceits  and  shams  of  the  day.  It  is  done, 
too,  with  a  coolness,  self-possession,  and  sang-froid,  that  are  inimitable,  however  un- 
comfortable-it may  seem  to  the  writhing  victims." — The  Guardian. 

"  These  four  papers  are  unqualifiedly  good.  They  show  a  thorough  acquaintance 
with  the  whole  range  of  philosophic  thought  in  its  modern  phases  of  development,  even 
down  to  the  latest  involutions  and  convolutions  of  the  Evolutionists,  the  sage  unknow- 
ableness  of  the  Agnostic,  and  thf  New  Light  novelty  of  Ethics  without  a  conscience."  — 
Lutheran  Church  Review. 

"  These  papers  are  as  able  as  thev  are  readable,  and  are  not  offensive  in  their  spirit, 
beyond  the  necessary  offensiveness  of  belief  to  the  beiievmg  mind.'' — N.  Y.  Christian 
Advocate. 

"The  discussion  is  sprightly,  incisive,  and  witty;  and  whoever  begins  to  read  it 
will  be  likely  to  read  it  through.'1-rArfw  Englander. 


***  For     sale    by    all     booksellers,     or    sent,     fost/aid,    upon     receipt     of 
frice,   by 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS,  Publishers, 

743  and  745   Broadway,  New  York. 


OUTLINES   OF   PRIMITIVE  BELIEF 

among  the  Indo-European  Kaces, 

By  CHARLES  FRANCIS  KEARY,  M.A., 

of  the   British   Museum. 


One  vol.  croivn  8vo.,  -  $2.50, 


Mr.  Keary's  Book  is  not  simply  a  series  of  essays  in  comparative  myth- 
ology, it  is  a  history  of  the  legendary  beliefs  of  the  Indo-European  races 
drawn  from  their  language  and  literature.  Mr.  Keary  has  no  pet  theory  to 
establish  ;  he  proceeds  in  the  spirit  of  the  inquirer  after  truth  simply,  and 
his  book  is  a  rare  example  of  patient  research  and  unbiased  opinion  in  a  most 
fascinating  field  of  exploration. 

"  We  have  an  important  and  singularly  interesting  contribution  to  our  knowledge 
of  pre-historic  creeds  in  the  Outlines  of pre-historic  Belief  among  the  Indo-European 
Races,  by  Mr.  C.  F.  Keary,  of  the  British  Museum.  No  contemporary  essayist  in 
the  field  of  comparative  mythology — and  we  do  not  except  Max  M  tiller — has  known 
how  to  embellish  and  illumine  a  work  of  scientific  aims  and  solid  worth  with  so  much 
imaginative  power  and  literary  charm.  There  are  chapters  in  this  volume  that  are  as 
persuasive  as  a  paper  of  Matthew  Arnold's,  as  delightful  as  a  poem.  The  author  is 
not  only  a  trained  inquirer  but  he  presents  the  fruits  of  his  research  with  the  skill  and 
felicity  of  an  artist." — Neiv  York  Sun. 

"Mr.  Keary,  having  unusual  advantages  in  the  British  Museum  for  studying 
comparative  philology,  has  gone  through  all  the  authorities  concerning  Hindoo, 
Greek,  early  Norse,  modern  European,  and  other  forms  of  faith  in  their  early  stages, 
and  there  has  never  before  been  so  thorough  and  so  captivating  an  exposition  of  them 
as  that  given  in  this  book." — Philadelphia  Bulletin. 

THE  DAWN  OF  HISTORY. 

AN  INTRODUCTION  TO  PRE-HISTORIC  STUDY. 
Edited  by  C.   F.   KEARY,   M.A., 

OF   THE    BRITISH    MUSEUM. 


One  Volume,  12mo.,  -  $1.25. 

This  work  treats  successively  of  the  earliest  traces  of  man  in  the  re- 
mains discovered  in  caves  or  elsewhere  in  different  parts  of  Europe  ;  of 
language,  its  growth,  and  the  story  it  tells  of  the  pre-historic  users  of  it ;  of 
the  races  of  mankind,  early  social  life,  the  religions,  mythologies,  and  folk- 
tales of  mankind,  and  of  the  history  of  writing.  A  list  of  authorities  is 
appended,  and  an  index  has  been  prepared  specially  for  this  edition. 


"  The  book  may  be  heartily  recommended  as  probably  the  most  satisfactory 
summary  of  the  subject  that  there  is."' — Nation. 

"  A  fascinating  manual,  without  a  vestige  of  the  dullness  usually  charged  against 
scientific  works.  .  .  .  In  its  way,  the  work  is  a  model  of  what  a  popular  scientific 
work  should  be  ;  it  is  readable,  it  is  easily  understood,  and  its  style  is  simple,  yet  dig 
nified,  avoiding  equally  the  affection  of  the  nursery  and  of  the  laboratory."  — 

Boston  Sat.  Eve.  Gazette 

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CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS,  Publishers, 

743  and  745  Broadway,  New  York. 


DATE  DUE 

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